


Schroedingers' Advent Calendar

by SerialObsessor (ibelieveinturtles)



Series: Winter's Future [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Advent Calendar, Challenges, Christmas, Crack, Darcy Lewis is Tony Stark's Sister, Darcy has her own AI, F/M, Gen, Ridiculousness, Secret Santa, Slow Burn, Time Travel, mutual crushing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-03 10:41:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 24,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8709238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibelieveinturtles/pseuds/SerialObsessor
Summary: A series of mini fics that may or may not be related to each other; they may or may not deal with Christmassy things; they may or may not be a chance for me to destroy some feral plot bunnies, and they may or may not happen every day. It'll be like Schroedinger’s Advent Calendar… you won't know if it's there until you check ;-)





	1. Wait, it's not still November?

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm an idiotic sucker for stupidity, and even though I don't really have any spare time I thought a series of short fics for December would be fun? You know, for a given value of fun that is. So in the spirit of Advent Calendars everywhere (or is it just me?), I'll probably get the first few up on time, and then life will happen, and I'll forget, or be too busy, and there'll be a catch up, or just a give up, or… or something. 
> 
> Anyway, here is the first day of December. Only 24 days until Christmas…

 

December 1st

 

* •°~☆~°• *

 

Darcy sighed with relief as she walked into her room. It had been another long day (and night,) with Jane in the lab, and she was so ready to just kick back and relax for a while, before having some much needed sleep. 

She dumped her bag on a chair, and then picked up the remote control and turned the television on, before flopping onto the bed, and debating her next move. Maybe just sleep would for first.

 She glanced at the television. Ugh, generic morning television was so not what she wanted to watch today. She started idly flicking through the channels until something a little bit different caught her attention.

 It was a slightly less generic morning show from the looks of it, and the definitely not generic hosts were in the middle of hanging a giant painting of a Christmas tree on a wall of their studio. It looked like it had been painted by preschoolers, and after watching curiously for a few more minutes, Darcy discovered that she was right. The tree had been made by a local kindy class especially for them to use as an Advent calendar. As they ceremoniously hung the first decoration, Darcy sat up. What day was it again?

 Darcy and Jane had been so caught up in their experiment over the last couple of weeks that they'd managed to lose a few days. After checking her tiny Cat of the Day calendar twice, and then making sure that her phone was set to automatic time zone, Darcy realised that it was actually December 1st, and not November the something like she'd thought it was.

 This called for emergency action. Normally Darcy would have everything she needed for complete and utter December the First Christmas decoration overkill ready at least a week before hand. Today? Nothing.

 In fact, the entirety of her personal hoard of Christmas decorations was still in storage after their move to the Avengers Facility. After a brief struggle about how badly she needed sleep, Darcy made a phone call. After a short conversation involving sentences such as “Do you have any minions I could borrow for a couple of hours this afternoon?” and “When are the Avengers due back on base?” and “How do you think they would feel about a Secret Santa exchange?” and finally, “Are there any Christmas decorations on base?”, she was ready.

 When she was satisfied that arrangements would be made whilst she was sleeping, she set an alarm, and went to bed.

 

* •°~☆~°• *

 

When she woke up sometime just after lunch and checked her messages, she was pleased to see that preparations were on track. After a quick shower, she headed for the cafeteria where she spent a productive and informative hour with her partner in crime, before heading off to supervise and instruct her borrowed minions.

 By the time the Avengers returned to the facility late that evening, several sections of it had been transformed. As each member of the team left the locker room, there wasn't even a hint of what was waiting for them in the common area, the cafeteria, the main entrance, the main boardroom, the briefing room, and the doors to their rooms.

 Christmas had most definitely stuck its foot in the door, and was insisting on being let in.

 

 


	2. Party Planning 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a job that needs to be done, and Darcy's the one to do it… apparently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same continuity as the first fic :-)  
> Also, I'm posting this one from my phone, so there's if there's anything dodgy, let me know and I'll fix it later.

Party Planning 101

December 2nd

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
It was late in the morning when Darcy was summoned to Maria Hill’s office.

“How busy are you at the moment?” were Maria's first words to her as she stepped through the door.   
“Um, well, we just came off a two week bender yesterday morning, and Jane's got a conference to go to in a few days, so now she's busy prepping for that,” Darcy said as she sat down, “I'm just proofreading and spell checking at the moment. Why?”   
“I need someone to organise a staff Christmas party,” Maria said with a put upon sigh. “The HR rep that was supposed to be doing it was fired a week ago, and I just found out that he cancelled everything in a fit of pique. Several people have commented to me what a great job of last minute decorating you did yesterday, so I was wondering if you would like to do it? I have a list of caterers, entertainment, decorators etc, you can use, but honestly, they're probably all booked out already.”

Darcy propped her hand under her chin and thought about it for a minute.  
“Look, I know that you're officially employed by Dr Foster, and I wouldn't normally do this, but... I'm three weeks behind on reports because Hydra doesn't believe in holiday cheer, and the Avengers haven't had more than 12 hours at a time on base in the last month. We need something, can you do it?”  
Darcy hesitated.  
“I'll put you on the payroll…” Maria offered.  
“Yeah, okay,” Darcy capitulated. “I suppose I can organise something. Is it a base wide thing or just the Avengers?”  
“It's a base wide function for all staff and their families. Thank you, so much. Keep me informed, but if you need any help, you'll have to look elsewhere, as I just don't have the time right now. Here's all the information you might need,” Maria gave her a sympathetic smile as she handed over a large file full of information.   
“I'll put you on as a specialist consultant, come back first thing tomorrow and I'll have a contract ready.”  
Darcy took the file with a not actually very small twinge of doubt. It was a big file. A BIG file. A BIIIIG file.  
“What's the budget?” she managed to ask as she stood up.  
Maria blinked. “I think that's in the folder somewhere. You might be able to get some of the deposits back too, if you're lucky. Just, use what you need to, I'll justify it later.”  
“Right,” Darcy nodded. “I'll see what I can do.”

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Five hours and endless phone calls later Darcy was ready to cry. Everyone was booked out. Even the ones that had only just been cancelled by the disgruntled former HR rep had already moved on to other clients. At least she'd been able to get all the deposits back. It was amazing what mentioning Black Widow could do in times like this. Shame it hadn't helped get the bookings back though. It was time for Plan B. Go have a drink.

Darcy was halfway through her third glass of wine and browsing Pinterest for ideas on ‘How to Decorate for Spies and Assassins’ when Natasha found her. After Darcy poured out all of her woes, Natasha carefully removed the glass from her hand, and gave her a big hug.  
“Just do more of this,” she indicated the ridiculously over the top decorations Darcy had out throughout the common area.  
“You think so?” Darcy asked doubtfully.   
“Yes. You should have seen the looks on everyone's faces when we got in last night. They love it, although some of them won't admit it.”  
Darcy smirked, “I had to make sure they knew it was December.”  
“Oh yes, everyone is well aware of that fact. Now, I do have a couple of suggestions, if you want them.”  
Darcy wrote them down, was inspired to add a couple of her own ideas, studied the list for a moment and then gave the other woman a watery smile.   
“Right, I can do this. This is doable,” she said. “All I need to do is think a little bit differently. Ohhhh… and find a Santa,” she finished glumly. “Damn, I forgot about a Santa.”  
“Why don't you try asking Sam, or Steve, or even Bucky, to be the Santa? I'm sure any one of them would be happy to do it.” Nat suggested.  
“You think so?” Darcy asked doubtfully   
“Yes, I do,” Natasha said firmly. “They all love Christmas, and I'm sure any one of them would jump at the chance. In fact, they may even fight each other for the opportunity,” Nat concluded.  
“Well, if you say so,” Darcy said, “I suppose it's worth a try. Thanks Nat.” She gave the other woman a quick hug as she stood up. “I feel a lot better now.”  
“Anytime.”

Nat watched as Darcy wandered out of the room, a small smile playing around her lips. This might be just the opportunity she'd been waiting for.

  
TBC...


	3. Don't Call Me Hal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy gets a surprise present.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same continuity as chapters 1 and 2. So this is all an AU set after Ultron, but Pietro didn't die, Bruce didn't run away, Thor didn't stay on Asgard and Bucky came back on his own. So we've got a lot of Avengers to play with!

  
Don't Call me Hal

December 3rd

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Darcy's brow furrowed as she looked at the next job on the list in front of her. How in the name of all that is holy, did she end up with this job? She wasn't qualified for this shit.  
She groaned. If only she had access to Friday, she could just pass the job off to her, go and have a nice cold drink, and catch up on a few reruns of ‘Say Yes To The Dress’ instead. But Tony hadn't installed Friday, or any other AI in the upstate facility, and as far as she knew, she was still banned from ‘fraternising’ with the AI, so she was doomed. Just her luck to get the kind of people where you couldn't just throw all the names into a hat and get them to take turns at pulling the pieces of paper out. But the Avengers? No, apparently it worked best if their Secret Santa assignments were worked out using some bizarre psychological formula given to her by the resident shrink. Too many ‘dominant personalities’, and ‘long term psychological trauma issues.’ Didn't the idiot know how to say ‘egotistical’ or ‘PTSD’?? And then of course, to do the hat thing you really needed them all to be around, preferably at the same time.

Maybe if she phoned the tower and asked Friday *really* nicely… what moron thought that she was qualified to do this?   
She gently banged her head against the desk a few times, and then sat up. Screw this idea for a lark. She screwed up the instructional piece of paper, pulled the list of Secret Santa participants towards her, and started drawing lines. Then she discovered a problem. There were 13 people on her list. Either someone was going to miss out, or someone was going to have to do two people. And not that she was superstitious or anything but… 13? Nope, she was totally going to have to…

Just as she was picking up her phone a knock came at the door, and when she looked up, Bucky Barnes was standing there awkwardly, a parcel in his hand.  
“Lewis,” he said in his usual stoic manner. “This got dropped off at Steve's room by mistake. Thought it might be important so I brought it down straight away.”  
He held the parcel out in front of him, and Darcy got up and took it carefully.  
“It's from Tony Stark,” she said, a tone of suspicious wonder in her voice. “Why is Stark sending me parcels?” she muttered to herself.

She opened the package cautiously, only to find a special edition StarkPad inside. There was a note with it.  
‘Lewis, heard you got stuck with a really shitty job, thought you could use some help. Hope you like my gift. PS please don't call it Hal.’  
She looked up at Barnes, who was still standing in the doorway, doing a really good imitation of a statue. Probably a goth statue.  
“What job’s he talking about?” Statue Barnes asked. “Thought you worked for Foster?”  
“I do,” Darcy replied distractedly as she waited for the Pad to boot up, “but Maria put me on as a special consultant cos she needed someone to organise the Christmas stuff.”  
“Christmas stuff?” he relaxed a tiny bit.   
“Yeah, the staff party, the Avengers Secret Santa, probably other stuff that I don't … oh my god. Oh. My. God. Oh my sweet Holy fucking supreme deity who rules over all!” Bucky took a wary step back as Darcy started bouncing up and down excitedly.   
“Something good?” he guessed.  
“You have no fucking idea,” she looked at him with eyes shining. “He's sent me an AI. My very own AI! This is going to make this so much easier!” She jigged excitedly from foot to foot, and then, unable to contain her excitement any more, flung her arms around him and squeezed as hard as she could. “Thank you so much for bringing this down,” she said, “Holy fuck, I am so happy right now, I could kiss you. Ah the hell with it.”  
She grabbed his face with her hands and mashed a kiss to his cheek, before releasing him just as quickly.   
“This is so awesome!” She declared, before whirling away again.  
“Um, no problem. I'll ah, leave you to it then,” he said quietly, hand raised to his cheek.  
“Cool bananas dude, thanks again!” she called after him, already preoccupied with her new toy.

Bucky wandered down the hallway, and it wasn't until he was almost back to his room that he realised his hand was still touching his cheek.

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, posting from my phone, cos moving and garage sale!


	4. More Research Needed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky wants to know more about this Secret Santa thing …

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuing in the same ‘verse again, cos I can.
> 
> Also, posting from my phone again.

  
**More Research Needed**

December 4th

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
“Steve, what's a secret Santa?” Bucky asked as he walked into Steve's room the next afternoon.

“Ah, some kind of gift giving thing I think Buck, why?” Steve replied as he finished checking the contents of his bag.

“Oh, just something I heard yesterday. Apparently the Avengers are going to be doing one?” Bucky said as he flopped into Steve's lone armchair.

“Really? That'll be a first. Where'd you hear that?”

“Down in the lab. Lewis has been given the job of organising it.”

Steve stopped what he was doing, and turned to look at Bucky.

“Darcy Lewis? Foster's assistant?”

“Yeah. A parcel showed up here for her, from Stark, so I took it down to her.” Bucky sat up a bit straighter. “She's organising a Christmas Party too, and Stark sent her one of his AI’s.”

He really had Steve's attention now.  
“Tony sent her an AI?” the disbelief in Steve's voice was palpable. “What on earth is he thinking?”

“She was pretty excited,” Bucky said, very carefully not mentioning the hug or the kiss on his cheek. That was something he wanted to keep to himself for now.

“I'm sure she was,” Steve muttered darkly. “Tony banned Darcy from interacting with Friday after an incident involving several of Tony's suits, and a lot of glitter. Among other things.”

“Glitter,” Bucky said . “He banned her over glitter?”

“Among other things,” Steve repeated.”I don't really know the details, but apparently Darcy didn't think the ban was deserved, and Tony accused her of betrayal of the worst kind.”

Bucky thought about this for a minute. “Well, I can only recall one murder robot incident, so whatever she did couldn't have been that bad.”

Steve just shook his head, and went back to his bag. “They won't talk about it, and sometimes, where Tony's concerned, it's better not to ask,” he said.  
  
“So,” Bucky said after a few minutes of Steve's silent packing. “Secret Santa?”

Steve stopped again, and turned around. “I don't really know Buck, I've never been involved in one before, so I know about as much as you do. Why don't you look it up? Or just go and ask Darcy, if she's the one organising it.”

Bucky considered this for a moment, and then made a decision. “Good idea, I'll do that. See you when you get back.”

Before Steve could respond, Bucky was out the door and gone. Steve straightened up, looked at the door in vague amazement, shrugged, and grabbed his bag. Right now, he had things other than Bucky’s sudden interest in secret Santa's to worry about.

Although, maybe it was a bit worrying.

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Lewis wasn't in the lab when Bucky got there. He wasn't sure if that was normal or not. He was about to leave and go hunting for her, when he spied another woman at the back of the lab. Possibly the Foster woman.

After a moment's hesitation, he strolled up behind her, and waited. She didn't look up. He loomed. Still nothing. He idly took out a knife and started spinning and flipping it around in his metal hand. She continued to work, seemingly oblivious to his presence. Finally, he cleared his throat.

“I'm looking for Lewis.” he said.

“Darcy's in conference room seven playing with her new toy,” she replied without looking up. “And put the knife away before you hurt someone. Also, didn't anyone ever tell you it's not polite to loom?”

She didn't look up once, and Bucky was surprised to feel the tiniest hint of embarrassment.

“Er, sorry,” he said, as she seemed to be waiting for a response.

“And?” she prompted, finally looking up.   
He furrowed his brow, “And what?”

“And I won't do it again?” she prompted.

“And I won't do it again,” he found himself repeating.

“Good. Now go, I have about two hours to finish writing this up before I have to leave, and you're disturbing me.” she turned away from him in obvious dismissal, and after a moment of confusion, he left.

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Conference room seven was the smallest one, but even so, it was still impressive. It contained a large table, several chairs, and a small screen at one end of the room. One wall was made entirely of glass and Bucky stood outside for a minute or two watching Lewis as she walked up and down next to the table, gesticulating wildly with her hands.   
He wasn't sure how long he'd been watching when she suddenly turned around, walked over to the door, and yanked it open.

“Are you gonna creep around out there all day, or do you wanna come in?” She asked him.

Caught off guard for the second time, he uttered out a reply of, “Sorry, didn't want to disturb you.”

“No problemo dude, come on in. I'm just figuring out some of her parameters whilst she finishes running the secret Santa thing for me.”

“She?” he asked curiously.

“My new AI,” Darcy smiled.”Hel, meet Barnes, Barnes, meet Hel.”

“Pleased to meet you Mister Barnes,” a cheery female voice greeted him from a speaker on the table.

“Er, pleased to meet you too Hal,” Bucky replied.

“No, not Hal, Hel. It's short for Helva, but that's good. Tony's totally going to make the same mistake,” she cackled wickedly.

He couldn't help smiling in echo of her own wide grin, even though he had no idea what was so amusing.

“So, Barnes,” she said, crossing her arms.and leaning against the table, “Why are you creeping around the corridor outside my new domain?”

“Ah, actually I was curious about the secret Santa thing,” he admitted. “No such thing when I was around before.”

She tipped her head to one side, studied him for a moment, and then nodded her head sharply.

“What do you want to know?”

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helva is named after the brainship from The Ship Who Sang, by Anne McCaffrey.
> 
> Secret SANTA origins https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Stewart_(philanthropist)
> 
> I'll format the link properly later :-)


	5. Secret Santa's Assemble!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone becomes a Secret Santa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pepper still has the Extremis, it's under control but she doesn't use it. :-) 
> 
> Also, I drew names out of a bag for all but one of the SS pairings. I tried to be all clever and psychotic about it but gave up.

  
**Secret Santa's Assemble!**

December 5th

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Dear _**Pepper**_ ,

Welcome to the Avengers and Associates Secret Santa exchange for 2016. You are the Secret Santa for **_Bucky Barnes._**

The rules are as follows:

  1. Please try and do some nice things for your gift recipient over the next few weeks. Just little things will do, and please don't spend any money on these though, it's the thought that counts here.
  2. If for some reason, you are unable to participate, you may appoint a proxy to help you. We understand that Avenging is not a 9 to 5 job.
  3. If you need ideas, suggestions or other help, please ask Helva, who has been uploaded into the lab, and conference room 7, with permission, for the duration.
  4. Final gifts will be distributed at the party on December 23rd, and it must cost less than $50. (I mean it Tony, $50!!!)



Remember, have fun, and keep the secret!

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Pepper stared at the email in confusion, as she wondered who the best person to call about this obvious mistake would be. She may be considered a powered person these days, but it would have to be a last chance, desperate, global emergency for her to actually need to go out and join Tony's little club. Nope, not going to happen.

She picked up the phone, considered for a moment longer, and then dialled. The phone connected, rang, and then was picked up.

“Good morning, Pepper. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Maria Hill asked warmly.

“I've just received a very confusing email,” Pepper said, as she started sorting through her morning's workload. “Do you have any idea why I've been included in the Avengers Secret Santa this year?”

“What?” the usually unflappable Maria Hill didn't usually show it when she was surprised, so Pepper knew there was something else going on.

“I've just received a Secret Santa assignment for, and I quote, ‘the Avengers and Associates Secret Santa exchange for 2016.’”

“Associates?” Maria murmured, “Pepper, I'm afraid I have no idea what is going on, can I call you back please?”

“Of course,” Pepper replied, “I have a meeting at 10 o'clock, but I'll be in my office for the rest of the day.”

“Thanks Pepper, hopefully it won't take me too long to get to the bottom of this.”

After she hung up the phone, Maria spent 30 seconds massaging her temples, and then went looking for Darcy.

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Dear **_Steve_** ,

Welcome to the Avengers and Associates Secret Santa exchange for 2016. You are the Secret Santa for _**Pietro Maximoff**_.

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Dear _**Maria**_ ,

Welcome to the Avengers and Associates Secret Santa exchange for 2016. You are the Secret Santa for _**Tony Stark**_.

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Dear _**Darcy**_ ,

Welcome to the Avengers and Associates Secret Santa exchange for 2016. You are the Secret Santa for _**Scott Lang.**_

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Dear _**Bucky**_ ,

Welcome to the Avengers and Associates Secret Santa exchange for 2016. You are the Secret Santa for **_Darcy Lewis_**.

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
When Maria finally called Pepper back it was with resigned annoyance.

“Did you know that Tony has given Darcy her own AI?” Maria asked with tightly controlled irritation.

“No, I did not,” Pepper replied with a sigh.

“She's using it to organise the base Christmas party, as well as the Secret Santa.” Maria continued.

“Wait, is that who the mysterious Helva is?” Pepper asked.

“Yes. Oh, she did request that no one mention the name to Tony yet, she says she wants to be the one to introduce her to him at the team dinner on Saturday night. We're both invited as well, you should get an invitation in your email shortly.” Maria warned Pepper. “Also, there are four other people designated as Associates in the Secret Santa as well as you and I. Apparently Darcy and Helva didn't think the group was diverse enough.”

Pepper tapped a nail on the desk, and then gave up, “They do have a point there,” she said. “Well, I guess I'll see you on Saturday then.”

“See you on Saturday,” Maria agreed.

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Dear _**Tony**_ ,

Welcome to the Avengers and Associates Secret Santa exchange for 2016. You are the Secret Santa for **_Thor_**.

The rules are as follows:

  1. Please try and do some nice things for your gift recipient over the next few weeks. Just little things will do, and please don't spend any money on these though, it's the thought that counts here!
  2. If for some reason, you are unable to participate, you may appoint a proxy to help you. We understand that Avenging is not a 9 to 5 job.
  3. If you need ideas, suggestions or other help, please ask Darcy.
  4. Final gifts will be distributed at the party on December 23rd, and it must cost less than $50. (I mean it Tony, $50!!!)



Remember, have fun, and keep the secret!

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 


	6. Good news travels fast.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Secret Santa’ing begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a coffee addict, but I live with a couple :-)

  
**Good news travels fast.**

December 6th

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Bucky was awake early, as usual, but for once he had something different to do. First up today, was to start his mission as a Secret Santa, and do something nice for Darcy. At least Steve was still away, so he didn't have to worry about avoiding him, but he was expected back later in the afternoon. If nothing happened, the entire team might be at home at the same time for once.

The first leg of his usual morning wanderings took him to the common area to get coffee and a pre-breakfast snack, then he went to the gym before returning for a proper breakfast. The second time he entered the kitchen, Natasha was already there, sipping her coffee and reading the newspaper.

“Good morning,” she greeted him as she put the paper to one side. “I hear you've been making a new friend.”

“Good news travels fast around here,” he noted.

“Not really. I went to talk to Darcy last night when I got in,” Nat said calmly, “She mentioned that you'd needed some help with the Secret Santa thing, and then stayed for almost five hours talking.” She raised an eyebrow at him, and smirked slightly as she took another sip of her coffee.

Bucky shrugged his shoulders.”She was willing to help me out, explain a few things. Didn't treat me like I was stupid for not knowing stuff.”

“She's nice,” Natasha said, “I like her.”  
Bucky looked at her suspiciously. He'd heard stories from both Sam and Steve about her efforts to set Steve up with pretty much any ‘nice’ girl that crossed her path.

“Yeah, she is.” He replied, and had his suspicions confirmed as her expression changed ever so slightly. “Anyway, I offered to help her out with the Christmas stuff, so I'd better get going.”

He silently congratulated himself at the quickly hidden expression of surprise that flitted across Natasha's face, and headed for conference room seven, where he hoped to find Darcy and Helva, ready for another day of planning.

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
Darcy's day was off to the best start ever. She'd opened her door, still half asleep and wondering if she’d make it to the kitchen without falling over, to find a large cup of her favourite coffee, still steaming hot and at perfect sipping temperature. There was no sign of anyone in the hallway though, and just a little tag looped onto the cup with a piece of red ribbon, that said, ‘From your Santa.’

She picked it up, took a sip and groaned.

“Ohh, thank you Santa,” she mumbled around the edge of the cup, “I love you already.”

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to thank everyone for the awesome comments. This really is a collaborative thing, and it's only improving with the suggestions you make, and the ideas you guys inspire me with. Please don't stop!


	7. Let's Go Start a Fight.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony comes to visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's not quite the 7th yet (still 13 ½ min as I wrote this note, now 6) but the chapters ready, so why not?!
> 
> Shorter chapters at the moment, as I've now got today and tomorrow to finish packing up my house for our move. Good news is, I feel like I'm on track. Bad news is, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop!

  
**Let's Go Start a Fight.**

December 7th

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
After nearly a week of planning, panicking and phone calls, the arrangements for the staff Christmas party were falling into place. All Darcy and Helva needed to do now was send out the memo to everyone currently employed by the Avengers Initiative, and find someone to play Santa for the day. Well, for an hour or two at least.

“Hel, who have we got home at the moment?” Darcy asked as she ticked off all but the last two items on her to-do list.

“The Avengers currently in residence are Captain America, Falcon.. “

“First names remember Hel,” Darcy cut in.  
“Sorry Darcy,” the AI responded, and then restarted her tally of on-base Avengers.

“Avengers currently in residence are Steve, Sam, Natasha, Scott, Wanda, Pietro, Vision and Bucky,” Hel informed her.

“Okay, where are Sam, Steve and Bucky at the moment?” she asked next.

“All three are currently in the common area,” Hel replied after a moment of silence. “Would you like me to ping Bucky's phone and alert him that you're looking for them?”

“No that's fine, let's just go there, shall we?”

She slipped her phone into a pocket, and turned around just as there was a knock on her door.

Tony was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, looking at her with an inscrutable expression.

“Tony,” she greeted him. “It's good to see you.”

He pointed a finger at her, “You know, I kept hoping that you'd come to your senses and come home, but I guess that's not happening, is it?” he replied.

“Nope. You knew that from the beginning, though I admire you for not giving up. I'm glad you've come to your senses though,” Darcy said sedately. “Anyway, thanks for the AI, that was very nice of you.”

“You're welcome, I figured you could probably use the help.” Tony said as he crossed his arms again.

“It's been very helpful,” Darcy told him, “Do you want to meet it?”

He nodded, “That would be nice.”

Darcy pulled her phone out of her pocket, and tapped a button. “Tony, meet Hel, Hel, meet Tony,” she said with a sly grin.

“I thought I said not to call it Hal!!” Tony stared at her in horrified betrayal.

Darcy laughed, “Open your ears Tony, it's HEL, not Hal. Short for Helva.”

“Helva. **Helva**. Okay, yep, that's good, I like that.”

“Thank you, we like it too,” Darcy replied with a self satisfied smirk.

“So, you headed somewhere?” Tony asked as she stepped through the door.

“Actually I was just going to find a Santa for the Christmas party, you wanna come with?”

“Yeah, okay. So, who you gonna ask?” Tony sauntered along beside Darcy, idly taking in the scenery.

“Not you.”

“You know I would do it if you asked me, right? BUT I'd be a terrible Santa, you do know that don't you?” the expression on Tony's face was priceless.

“Yes Tony, that's why I'm not asking you. I'm asking them.” Darcy replied with a twitch of her mouth.

"Who's them?" Tony asked, intrigued.

"Steve, Sam and Bucky."

“What, all of them?”

Darcy stopped outside the common room door, and tapped a finger on her bottom lip. “Well I only need one, but Nat said they'd probably all fight over the opportunity, so I dunno, whaddya think, wanna watch the 3 big bads duke it out for the honour?”

“That sounds like a fight I could get behind.” Tony said, his face brightening.

“Come on then, let's go start a fight.”

 

*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

 


	8. Of Ice Ages and Global Warming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky's secret Santa is sneaky and the Santa Showdown gets postponed because probably Hydra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We move tomorrow. So sick of packing!! I think we're down to 17 days til Christmas now?

 

 

**Of Ice Ages and Global Warming**

 

  
December 8th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Another early morning, and this time Bucky's surprise breakfast companion was Tony Stark. Bucky was already at the table, eating his breakfast, and skimming the newspaper, when the billionaire wandered in.

  
“So, I hear you've appointed yourself as Lewis’ assistant?” Stark's tone of voice was more restrained tolerance, than its usual caustic hostility as he entered the common area, and a surprised Bucky took a moment to adjust before he looked up.

  
“It's a big job, I don't have a lot to do at the moment. I offered, she accepted.” he replied carefully.

  
To his surprise Stark just nodded, before sitting down opposite him.

  
“Well, that's really nice of you, she's not very good at asking for help, so, you know, I'm glad she's got, you.” Tony said, obviously uncomfortable but trying not to show it.

  
“I... yeah, good. Thanks,” Bucky responded warily. He couldn't remember any other time Stark had been anywhere near this nice to him.

  
They were sitting in awkward silence when Darcy breezed into the room. She drew to a sudden stop as she noticed them, and then gave a mock shiver.

  
“Okay, so is it just me, or did the ice age arrive and no one told me?”

  
Bucky didn't think he could get more surprised when Stark gave her a huge smile as he stood up.

  
“No, no. Global warming is definitely still a thing. You should have been here five minutes ago. The glaciers are definitely retreating,” the other man declared with wide open arms. He looked back at Bucky, who just stared back warily, and then shrugged. 

  
“I can see the flooding from here,” Darcy said dryly, but she winked at Bucky as she went on, “Will we need sandbags?”

  
“Not yet,” Tony replied as he made weird faces at Bucky, “but don't get complacent. When it happens, it'll be the flood to end all floods.”

  
Bucky stood up to take his cup to the sink, and decided to take a chance, “You having a stroke or something there Stark? There's weird things happening to your face.”

  
Darcy almost choked as she tried not to laugh, and Stark just stared at her indignantly.

  
“Maybe... we will... need... those sandbags,” she stuttered out, and then burst into peals of laughter. “Stroke… oh god, your face… oh Tony! Good one Bucky,” she gave him two thumbs up.

  
Stark frowned, and then turned to Bucky with a suppressed smile on his face.

  
“Thank you for your time, it was… nice, talking to you. Let's do it again some time. Darcy, I need to talk to you for a minute,” Stark gave Bucky a stilted wave, and then slung his arm around Darcy's shoulder as he walked her towards the door. Bucky couldn't hear what they were saying, but Darcy looked up at Stark with a big smile as her arm came around to sit on his waist.

  
He frowned to himself as Stark dropped a kiss on top of her head, before giving her a hug, and leaving. Something strange was happening in his chest, and he left before Darcy came back.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
The standoff to determine who would play Santa had to be postponed, and it seemed to Bucky that every time he wanted to ask Steve an important question lately, he was prepping for a mission. Once again, he walked into Steve's room to find him packing a bag.

  
“Where are you off to this time?” he asked as he sank into the lounge.

  
“Bali,” Steve replied. “Something to do with a volcano and some monkeys.”

  
Bucky nodded, “So the usual weird shit, huh?”

  
“Looks like it,” Steve nodded as he zipped up the bag. “How's your party planning going?”

  
“Good,” Bucky replied. “Stark came and thanked me for helping Darcy out.”

  
Steve stopped in the middle of folding a towel, and turned to looked at Bucky in amazement. “What?”

  
“He was nice to me too,” Bucky said.

  
Steve put the towel down, “Wow, now that's something I wasn't expecting.”

  
“It was a strange experience. And then Darcy came in and...” Bucky shrugged.

  
Steve looked at him curiously, “And?”

  
“She made a joke about the ice age, and he made one about global warming… and… and I joined in,” Bucky confessed.

  
Steve looked at him with amazement, “You were joking with Tony Stark? And you're both still alive? Well that's a Christmas miracle if I ever heard one.”

  
Bucky smiled. This was very true.

  
“Yeah… Stark and Darcy seem very familiar with each other,” he noted casually.

  
“She and Jane worked at the tower for a while before they moved here, so that would make sense,” Steve said, contemplating the question as he zipped up the bag.

  
“S’pose it does,” Bucky considered, then he waved at the bag, “So, does this mean you're forfeiting the right to be Santa at the party?”

  
“No way Bucky. We're just postponing it for a day or two,” Steve grinned.

  
Bucky stood up, and as he walked past Steve he patted him on the shoulder. “okay then pal, have fun in Bali. When you get back, it's on for the Santa job.“

  
“That job is mine Bucky!” Steve called out as he strolled down the corridor.

  
“Don't get cocky, punk,” Bucky called after him.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus:
> 
> The previous day:
> 
>  
> 
> Pepper hung up her phone. It was difficult to be Santa for someone who lived on the other side of the country, but she could still make an effort. She only hoped she'd given Tony enough other unusual errands to do at the Avengers base, to disguise the one that she really wanted him to do.


	9. Bargains and Conspiracies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam's feeling disadvantaged, and the ladies plot, plan and perv, all at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So once again it's not quite midnight, but if I post this now, then I have all day to a) write the next installment, and b) concentrate on getting my household loaded onto a truck!  
> Moving day today… oh boy!
> 
>  
> 
> Chapter is unbeta’d, and posting from my phone. Again.

**Bargains and Conspiracies**

 

 

December 9th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Sam Wilson was feeling distinctly disadvantaged. Here he was, a perfectly ordinary man, and he was expected to compete against two serum enhanced super men for the privilege of being Santa at the upcoming Christmas party. There was definitely something wrong with this picture. So here he was, setting a course for conference room seven in the hopes of maybe improving his odds. A little bit. Maybe.

  
He looked through the windows of the small room at the woman sitting with her back to the rest of the world. There was a planner open in front of her, and it looked like she was talking to someone.

  
“Darcy Lewis,” he said smoothly as he strode through the door. “Just the woman I was looking for.”

  
“Hey Sam, what's up?” Darcy looked up from her planner to greet him as he sat in the chair opposite hers.

  
“It's like this,” he started, “I've got this feeling that I don't really stand a chance at this Santa gig, and I was wondering what I could do to improve my odds.” He figured he may as well just lay his cards right out in front of him from the start.

  
Darcy put her pen down and eyed him off with a calculating look.

  
“What are you going to do for me, if I make it easier for you?” she asked.

  
Sam sat up a little straighter, he hadn't expected to get to a bargaining stage without a lot more sweet talk, wheedling, cajoling, and, most likely, begging.

  
“What do you want?” he countered.

  
Darcy smiled, and he felt the skin on his neck crawl at the predatory grin she displayed.

  
“Well,” she leaned towards him, “Let's start with your competitors.”

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Darcy, Natasha, Wanda, Maria, Helen and a recently returned Jane piled onto the viewing deck above the sparring mats, and waited impatiently. None of them wanted to miss this ogling opportunity, and Maria had her phone out, filming the spectacle for Sharon, who wasn't able to be there.

  
“So how come you're not down there officiating?” Jane asked Darcy, as the competition commenced.

  
“Wanda, can any of them hear us up here?” Darcy asked quietly, and when Wanda shook her head, she continued.

  
“Cos I'm actually gonna use all three of them as Santa,” Darcy replied smugly. Below them, Steve and Bucky were struggling for dominance over each other, whilst Sam watched. Scott and Vision were watching from nearby as umpires in case of challenge or cheating.

  
“So what is this all for then?” Wanda asked curiously, waving a hand towards the competitors.

  
“Well, we get to watch a show,” Darcy started, “They get to show off, flex their muscles, attract a mate. Basically, they get to be peacocks, and we get to watch.”

  
Steve finally had Bucky at a disadvantage, and moments later, had won the first round. Sam stepped up to challenge Steve.

  
“Attract mates?” Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow.

  
“Well your way of finding them partners hasn't exactly worked yet…” Darcy trailed off as Natasha fixed her with a mild glare.

  
“Are you sure about that?” she asked mildly.

  
“Why, do you know something we don't?” Maria asked, with what may have been a hint of disappointment in her voice, as Sam went down with barely even a show of resistance.

  
Natasha gave in, and shook her head, “No, Darcy's right, all my efforts so far have failed. A new approach might be just what we need.”

  
“Exactly,” Darcy nodded, “and remember, Santa always needs elves, right?”

  
Down on the floor Sam lost to Bucky, and the women all shook their heads in sympathy.

  
“It really doesn't seem fair for Sam though, does it?” Maria noted as Bucky managed to beat Steve this time.

  
“Well…” Darcy said conspiratorially, as Sam went another round against Steve.

  
“I let Sam choose the challenge,” Darcy revealed, “He was so open to a little bit of bribery and corruption, just to get me to let him be Santa, that I let him in on the secret. He then chose shirtless arm wrestling as a favour for all us ladies. There were other activities on my list, but he was determined to go with this,” Darcy informed the other women. Maria and Helen exchanged glances with Natasha, and then they all turned their gazes on Darcy.

  
“You told him it was a setup?” Wanda asked.

  
“Yes I did,” Darcy admitted, without a trace of guilt. “What? It was the best way to guarantee that all of them would be shirtless. I've promised him the first shift.”

  
Natasha shook her head, a large smile spreading across her face.

  
“You never cease to amaze me, Darcy,” she said quietly.

  
“Aw, thanks Nat, that means a lot,” Darcy beamed. “Now, there's one more thing I need to organise, and that's where I need your help ladies.”

  
“What do you need?”

  
“Well, every Santa needs an elf, right?” Darcy asked. “So who wants be an Elf, and who do you want to Elf for?” Darcy asked, a smirk on her face. “I call dibs on Bucky.”

 

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Urgh… :-) so tired...


	10. Snapshot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's family dinner night and Pepper has no manners!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We drove nearly 800km today (yesterday). The trip included roadworks, rain, more roadworks, more rain, horses, cows, a camel (apparently), and lots of loo breaks. I was going to post this last night but sleep :-)
> 
>  
> 
> This is very short, but I might write something longer at a later date.

**Snapshot**

  
December 10th

 

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
“Pepper! No showing off at the table!”

  
Pepper looked up guiltily from where she was showing Bucky her glowing hand, and let her Extremis fade away.

  
Darcy glared at Pepper with a fondly exasperated expression on her face.

  
“I swear you're getting as bad as Tony. You're staying the night, so why don't you give us all a proper demonstration tomorrow?”

 

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another 650km to do today. Yay Australia!


	11. Light It Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers bond, and Darcy gets a new gift from her Secret Santa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sunday’s drive took 9 ½ hrs but we arrived safely just before 6:30pm. Thank the gods it's all over!! Hopefully I'll be back on track by the end of the week, but I've also got a Secret Santa thing to finish off, so no promises.

 

**Light It Up  
**

  
December 11th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
When Darcy wandered into the common area after dinner, there were exhausted Avengers scattered all over the room. Unusually, they were all still on base, and the day had been spent demonstrating abilities, comparing enhancements, testing skills and generally showing off.

  
_~☆~_

  
_Pepper's Extremis demonstration had almost ended in disaster when she accidently set some Christmas decorations alight, but Pietro had the fire, and Pepper, drenched in several buckets of water before Scott and Clint even started panicking._

  
_Pietro had then provided a bonus demonstration, by redecorating the entire area in silver and blue before Pepper finished dripping. Darcy promptly informed him not to go anywhere on the day of the big party, and Maria immediately offered to take him off active duty for the next week._

  
_The deal was sealed with Wanda demonstrating how she could hold her brother motionless when needed._

  
_This had been followed by Steve running both the regular Avengers, and the ‘part-time-only-in-the-most-dire-emergency’ Avengers, through one of his more elaborate training scenarios, which had then diverged into a free for all of ‘if you do that, then I can do this, and the bad guys will never know what hit them’, whilst Maria, Helen, Jane, Sharon, Darcy and Helva offered (not always) helpful advice from the sidelines._

  
_It was agreed by everyone that they should do this more often._

  
_~☆~_

  
“Helva?” Darcy held her phone up to her mouth and whispered to her AI, “Are any of them actually awake?”

  
“Everyone in the room is currently asleep Darcy, however Pietro, Steve and Bucky are not here.”

  
“Where are they?” Darcy asked curiously.

  
“Steve is currently in my conference room, and Pietro is in the lab,” Helva replied.

  
“What about Bucky?” Darcy asked, “Where's he?”

  
“I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to reveal or discuss Bucky's current whereabouts,” Helva said complacently.

  
Darcy frowned, “What? Why not?”

  
“Secret Santa business Darcy. That's all I have permission to say,” Helva replied.

  
Darcy smiled, “Well in that case, I'll leave him be. Time for bed I think, Hel.”

  
“Good idea Darcy, we've got another big day tomorrow,” Helva reminded her.

  
“That we do,” Darcy said as she headed towards her room.

  
It was dark when she opened her door, and Darcy frowned. She was sure she'd left her bedside lamp on. She fumbled inside the door for the light switch, which seemed closer to the door than it usually did, and then gasped in delight as her whole room lit up with gently changing Christmas lights. The lights were strung all around the ceiling, up and down the walls, and even strung along her bedhead. As she walked dazedly into the room, admiring the light as it danced patterns across the walls, she saw a note taped to her bedhead.

  
It was identical to the notes she'd received on every cup of morning coffee left outside her door for the last 5 days - ‘From your Santa.’

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm writing this on our new living room floor, sitting on a pillow. Furniture should arrive tomorrow.


	12. Die Hard with Lasagne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy's making lasagne, and invites Bucky to watch a movie with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This came about because of ChrissiHR and a conversation about lasagne and casseroles ;-) (laughs maniacally)
> 
> Also, I will get to responding to comments soon. I hope.

 

 

**Die Hard with Lasagne**

  
December 12th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
When Bucky wandered into the kitchen just before lunch he was hit with a combination of smells and sounds. Darcy was stirring something in a large frying pan, there was a large saucepan on the stove top, and a casserole dish sitting on the bench. She was also singing along loudly to what sounded like noise to him but as he could hear lyrics about Santa Claus coming to town, he assumed it was Christmas music. He was wondering whether he should stay or make a strategic retreat when she turned around and spotted him.

  
“Ooh, you'll do. I need a second opinion, c’mere and taste test for me.” She beckoned to him impatiently as she held a spoon up.

  
Stay it was. He crossed the room and eyed the spoon suspiciously.

  
“What is it?” he asked.

  
“Meat sauce for a lasagne. Come on, what do you think?”

  
He considered the spoon, and the girl holding it, and then, carefully placing his hand over top of hers, brought it to his lips for a taste. She watched expectantly.

  
“Well? Is it okay? Enough garlic? Not too much basil?”

  
He shook his head, “That's really good, don't.. don't do anything else to it.”

  
She beamed up at him, “Really? I mean, I’ve still gotta put it all together, but you like it?”

  
He nodded emphatically. “Yeah, I like it, it's really good. What's it for?”

  
“Well, don't tell anyone, but the person I'm Secret Santa for really likes lasagne and it's really hard to make a small lasagne, so I thought I'd make enough for everyone.” She paused for a moment. “Well, everyone who's home at the moment anyway. That way it's not so obvious, you know?”

  
“That's very clever of you,” Bucky remarked, thinking that this could possibly become one of his favourite meals too.

  
She grinned happily at him, and then her eyes shifted sideways.

  
“So, this is really nice and everything, but can I have my hand back now please? I kind of need it to finish the lasagne,” her eyes met his again and he felt his face flush as he let go.

  
“Sorry,” he mumbled as she dumped the spoon in the sink before turning back to the stove.

  
“It's okay,” she smiled at him over her shoulder, “my sauce can have that effect on people. You should see my brothers after I've fed it to them, putty in my hands,” she cackled.

  
“You have brothers?” he asked.

  
“Two. Well, half brothers. One is a few years younger than me, and the other is older. A lot older.”

  
“I had sisters,” Bucky volunteered without thinking.

  
“You must miss them huh?” she said quietly.

  
“Yeah, I do,” he admitted quietly.

  
She turned around and looked at him. “I'm real sorry about that. If you ever wanna, you know, talk, I'd love to hear about them. Or there's Helva, if you'd prefer.”

  
She turned back to the stove again without waiting for an answer, and he sat in companionable silence as she started putting the layers into the big dish. He watched as she worked quickly and efficiently, and a short time later she was placing it in the oven and setting a timer.

  
“Right, that's that done, now for something Christmassy. Wanna watch a movie with me?” she asked.

  
“What kind of movie?” he asked suspiciously, having learned over the last week or two that what she said didn't always match up with what he thought.

  
“One of my favourite Christmas movies,” she said, and then a worried look passed over her face. “Oh, do you have any objections to a movie about a high rise building being taken over by German terrorists?”

  
“What?”

  
“We can watch something different if you want? I don't want to make you uncomfortable.”

  
He gave her a calculating look.

  
“You want to watch a Christmas movie that's about terrorists hijacking a skyscraper?” he asked dubiously.

  
“Yeah,” she said sheepishly. “I didn't really think that through did I?”

  
“Okay,” he gave in.

  
“What?” It was her turn to be surprised.

  
“I'll give it a go. I can always turn it off or leave, right?” he checked.

  
“Of course! Okay then,” she said, her smile resuming its pride of place as she took his hand again and dragged him over to the lounge in front of the television. “Let me introduce you to Die Hard.”

  
“What about the lasagne?” he asked as he allowed himself to be pushed onto the lounge.

  
“That's what the pause button is for,” Darcy said as she grabbed the remote and flopped down next to him. “Are you ready?”

 

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darcy is listening to Bruce Springsteen’s version of ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’, as well as a lot of other things that Steve and Bucky may find offensive to their ears. Or not.


	13. Hot!Santa!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A special order arrives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halfway there! I'm finding inspiration very hard to come by at the moment :-( I hope to catch up a bit soon though.

 

**Hot!Santa!**

 

  
December 13th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Darcy was running through her to do list when Helva alerted her to the delivery that had just arrived. A quick phone call was all it took to arrange for someone in stores to collect and deliver it to her.

  
Half an hour later she had finished checking off the contents against the invoice, and was ready for the next stage - fittings!

  
“Helva, what are our Santa's doing at the moment?” she asked the AI.

  
“Bucky and Steve are training, and Sam is showering,” Helva reported promptly.

  
“Excellent, can you please ask them to come to your conference room as soon as they're done? Say, in about half an hour? Tell them I have a surprise for them.” She couldn't help wriggling a little in her seat, she was that excited.

  
While she waited for Team Santa to join her, Darcy detoured to the common area kitchen, where she'd spent an hour whipping up some quick-mix no-bake Christmas treats earlier in the day, and dumped the finished goods onto a large platter before heading for conference room seven.

  
The first Santa to arrive was Sam.

  
“So, I heard there's a special surprise waiting for us up here?” he asked as he sauntered through the door.

  
“Indeed you've heard correctly Sam. Here, that one there is yours.” Darcy pointed him towards a box sitting down the far end of the table. Sam wandered towards it with interest, running his hand over the plain white box curiously.

  
“Do I have to wait for the others or can I open it already?” he asked.

  
“You can open it,” Darcy replied. “In fact, you can step behind the screen in the corner over there and try it on for me please.”

  
Sam raised an eyebrow, “You got me clothing?” he asked suspiciously.

  
Darcy rolled her eyes. “It's your Santa costume you idiot. Now go make sure it fits properly, and then you can have a Christmas treat.”

  
Sam's face broke into a shiny grin as he peered at the platter.

  
“Is that coconut ice?” he asked eagerly.

  
“Sure is, got the recipe from a friend in Australia, who then also sent me the ingredients, cos she says you can't trust the American equivalents.”

  
“She's probably got a point,” Sam agreed as he lifted the lid off the box. “We were stationed close to some Australian troops for a while in Afghanistan. They have some of the best sweet things. Wow, this thing is really red isn't it?”

  
“Of course it's red Sam, it's a Santa suit! Now go try it on.” Darcy hustled him off to go try his suit on.

  
Sam disappeared behind the screen just as Steve and Bucky arrived. After a similar conversation they too disappeared behind screens, and several minutes later there were three Hot!Santa's in front of Darcy, who was very glad that she'd asked Helva for photos before hand. The rest of the ladies would not be happy if they'd missed this preview.

  
Darcy sighed happily as she rested her face in her hands. “You're all perfect,” she declared. “This is going to be the best Christmas party ever.”

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Googled whether or not America has coconut ice, and they seem to, but different to what we make here in Australia.


	14. For Promotional Purposes Only

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The staff of the Avengers base have their own version of Avengers trading cards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A direct follow on from chapter 13
> 
> I'm posting on my phone... again... sitting in the cinema waiting for Rogue One to start :-D

  

 

**For Promotional Purposes Only**

 

  
December 14th

 

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
It was Steve who discovered the black market photos containing Sam, Bucky and himself in the Santa outfits. They hadn't even had the bellies in place.

  
He'd been happily minding his own business, eating his lunch in the cafeteria when his super hearing (okay, so it wasn't actually super hearing, just really, really, perfect…) had overheard an interesting conversation taking place behind him. There were half a dozen people at the table a few rows behind him, and he wasn't really even listening at first, but when he heard his, Bucky’s and Sam's names mentioned a lot more frequently than usual, he started to concentrate.

  
After several minutes of surreptitious listening, he got up, returned his dirty dishes to a nearby trolley, and went looking for answers.

  
He started by bailing up one of the HR ladies outside their break room, and guilting her into providing him with copies of the photos. They were small, about passport size, but high quality, and Steve thanked her kindly before proceeding with the next part of his mission. There was only one person who could have gotten these pictures he realised. Well, two, if you included the human factor, and ultimately, she was probably the true culprit.

  
“Hey Sam, have you seen Darcy?” He found Sam doing paperwork in their office, after a fruitless search for the woman in question.

  
“Nope,” Sam replied distractedly as he scratched away at a piece of paper.

  
“Sam,” Steve insisted from the doorway.

  
The other man looked up this time. “What? Oh yeah, she and Bucky went out somewhere to get something for the big party.” He pushed away from his desk. “Why?”

  
Steve threw the photos down in front of him.

  
“Apparently Darcy and Helva took these yesterday, and now there’s an underground trade in the damn things.”

  
Sam whistled under his breath. “Damn, we look good,” he said admiringly.

  
“Sam!” Steve said frustratedly. “They were taken without our permission. She can't do that.”

  
Sam sat up and looked at the photos again.

  
“Ah, she did have our permission to take these,” he said. “Remember? Right before we changed back out of the suits, she told us she needed some photos for promotional purposes. I don't recall you objecting.”

  
Steve deflated. “That still doesn't explain why they're being traded like collector cards though,” he insisted.

  
Sam sat back and shook his head. “You really have no idea do you?”

  
“What?” Steve asked, confused.

  
“What does Steve have no idea about this time?”

  
They both turned to see Natasha standing in the doorway. Sam held the photos up.

  
“Steve finally found out about the photo trade,” he explained.

  
Natasha moved forward and took the photos, carefully shuffling through the small stack.

  
“A nice addition to the collection,” she approved, “I don't have any of these yet.”

  
“You know about this?” Steve stared at Natasha with betrayal in his eyes.

  
“Of course,” she said mildly. ”I've even contributed a few myself.”

  
Steve looked like he was about to start spluttering when she continued.

  
“Of course, I daresay that the ones of Wanda, Maria, Sharon and myself in our Elf outfits will be much more popular than you three dressed as a Jolly Fat Man,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eye.

  
Sam almost fell off his chair laughing at Steve's face following that comment.

  
“You? As an elf?” Steve said in disbelief.

  
“Every Santa needs elves Steve,” Natasha said with a wink, as she tucked the photos into a pocket and left.

  
Steve turned back to Sam as one of Natasha's comments suddenly clicked in his brain.

  
“What did she mean, ‘A nice addition to the collection?’” he demanded.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are rules regarding the photos, they must stay on base, they must be G rated, they must only be distributed as hard copies etc. Good action shots are most popular, but anything that's pure eye candy is popular as well. It was probably Nat’s idea, and everyone except Steve knows about the collection, cos he's a bit oblivious ;-)


	15. Things that Make You Go WTF?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's an accident in the lab… like that's never happened before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, so I decided to reveal.some of my plans early… :-)
> 
> Oh yeah, unbeta'd, posting from my phone. The usual story:-)

 

**Things that Make You Go WTF?**

  
December 15th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
It had been a long night and a long day and another long night in the lab for Jane. With Darcy increasingly preoccupied with organising Christmas for the Avengers, she'd been unfortunately been left to her own devices. So she'd decided to build herself a new experimental doodad, just for fun.

  
So 37 hours with very little food, and even less sleep, meant that when Darcy arrived just after breakfast, Jane was ready to flick the switch.

  
Sparks sparked, gears screeched, something rattled and something else whined, and as Darcy rushed to push Jane away so she could turn it off, something went the opposite of boom, and a bright light expanded rapidly to fill the room, then faded just as quickly.

  
Both women were on the floor, and it was Jane who stirred first.

  
“Darcy?” she mumbled through a haze of ringing ears. “Are you okay? Darcy?”

  
She climbed unsteadily to her feet, leaning on a nearby bench for support.

  
“Darcy?” she tried again. There was a guttural groan from the floor as Darcy tried to move.

  
“Oohhh,” came the moan again. “Gods who let me lay down on the floor?” she complained. “I'll never be able to get up on my own. Jaaane.” She whined, “Come help me get up!”

  
“Oh for goodness sakes Darcy, you being on the floor is not the end of...” Jane broke off abruptly as Darcy half rolled over, and revealed the enormous swollen belly that was preventing her from climbing to her feet without assistance.

  
“Holy mother of - what the hell happened to you?” Jane said in shock.

  
“How many times have we had this conversation Jane? What do you think happened to me? I got knocked up,” Darcy said dryly as Jane hauled her back to her feet.

  
“Well you weren't knocked up two minutes ago,” Jane said defensively. “You don't even have a boyfriend!”

  
“What?” Darcy stared at Jane without comprehension, and then she looked around. “Oh, this is it,” she breathed. “I'm closing the loop.”

  
“What?” It was Jane's turn at bewilderment.

  
“Ugh, help me to that chair would you please Jane?” Darcy begged. “I'll explain everything as soon as I'm sitting down.” With one hand on her back Darcy waddled over to the chair at her desk, and carefully lowered herself into it.

  
“Ohhhh,” she sighed. “That is soooo much better.”

  
“You're a different Darcy aren't you?” Jane said as she studied the other woman. “Like, from an alternate universe or something, right?”

  
“Nope. It's a time swap,” Darcy said. “Me from now has to gone to when I'm from and me from then is here now. I'm still the same person, just a bit older, and with a surprising resemblance to a beached whale.”

  
Jane frowned. “That was a ridiculous sentence. My little machine did that?”

  
“Yep. Don't worry though, it's not permanent, and you don't need the doodad to reverse the effects. If I remember correctly - but don't take my word for it, baby brain is a bitch Janey! Where was I? Oh yes, we'll swap back in about an hour. At least, that's how long it was for her.”

  
“Oh.” Was all Jane could say as she sat down.

  
“Tell me about,” Darcy said dryly.

  
“So who's the father?” Jane asked. “Are you married? How far along are you? Oh, when did you come from?” Jane's brain had recovered quickly from the shock and was working overtime to try and get as much information as possible.

  
“I'm due pretty much any second now, I'm from exactly one year in the future, we decided not to get married - even though he's as old fashioned as fuck - just to annoy my brother, and…”

  
Jane sat up straight, with a big gasp of realisation. “It's Bucky isn't it? It is! Oh my god, Darcy this is…”

  
“Yes, it's Bucky,” Darcy admitted with a smile. “And if you play your cards right you're going to win big in all the betting pools.”

  
“What?” Jane hadn't been expecting such an upfront admission, Darcy usually preferred to make her wait and guess for a lot longer.

  
Darcy shifted uncomfortably on the chair. “Oh gods I'd forgotten how horrible this chair is. You have to order me a new one asap, okay?”

  
Jane nodded dumbly.

  
“Right, down to business then. Helva?” Darcy asked.

  
“Yes Darcy?” came the response from the speakers they'd had installed.

  
“You'll have to lock all this into a secure file okay? Don't even let me look at it until I come back from this swap. Password will be ‘million to one chances happen nine times out of ten.’”

  
“Got it Darcy. Security protocols in place.” Helva replied.

  
“Right, okay Jane, here's what you're gonna do.”

  
They'd been talking for at least half an hour when their attention was caught by a tapping on the window. It was Steve and Bucky.

  
“Oh shit,” Darcy hissed. “They're not supposed to be here, you never told me they came down whilst I was here!” she looked about to panic.

  
“I can send them away,” Jane offered.

  
Both women looked at the two men watching them through the window curiously, and Darcy made a decision. “Let them in Helva, Bucky could probably use the boost at this stage. Otherwise it'll probably take him weeks more to pluck up the nerve to kiss me.”

  
The door opened and the boys entered the lab.

  
“So what's with the locked doors?” Steve asked curiously, and.then his jaw dropped as Jane helped Darcy to stand up.

  
“What the hell?” he uttered, shock and confusion evident in his voice. Beside him Bucky's face fell momentarily before becoming a blank mask.

  
“This is 2017 Darcy,” Jane informed them. “Our Darcy is now in 2017.”

  
“Don't worry, she'll be back soon,” Darcy reassured them as she looked at Bucky. “And that's enough of that from you Mister Barnes, these are your babies destroying my figure here so you can stop that self pitying crap right now.”

  
Jane really, really hoped Helva had a good angle of Bucky's face. Because his expression was priceless. So was Steve's come to think of it.

  
“Um, how did this happen?” Steve recovered first.

  
Darcy rolled her eyes at him. “Well Steve, when two people reaaallly like each other…”

  
“Darcy!”

  
“Does it matter how it happened?” Bucky found his voice again. “It happens.”

  
Darcy gave him a brilliant smile, and threw her arms around him. “Yes it does,” she murmured triumphantly, pecking him on the cheek as she did so. “Now, I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be here for, but Steve, if you don't mind I'd like to talk to Bucky alone for a few minutes, plus I'm starving of the hunger. Time travel is very hungry work. Could you and Jane go find me something to eat? Please?” she batted her eyelashes at him until he capitulated, and minutes later she and Bucky were alone in the lab.

  
“May I?” Bucky said softly, reaching a hand out hesitantly.

  
“Of course, these are your babies too,” Darcy said.

  
He rested both hands on the swell of her abdomen, and Darcy watched as his whole face lit up.

  
“I wanna kiss you so badly right now,” she said softly, “but I want our first kiss to be **our** first kiss. Now, there's a couple of things I want you to do for me, okay?”

  
He nodded silently.

  
“Okay, so when we go public, my brother is gonna get all up in your face about it, but he'll be okay with it eventually. Just ride it out, and remember, Pepper is on your side, cos Tony's an idiot most of the time.”

  
She waited whilst he turned this over in his head.

  
“Tony's your brother,” he stated. “Well that explains a few things.”

  
“Yeah, not many people know yet, but it'll become public knowledge soon.”

  
“I thought it might have been something else,” he confessed.

  
Darcy wrinkled her nose, “Ew. Even if he wasn't my brother, ew. Oh look, I'm starting to glow, the reversal’s happening.”

  
She looked at him, “I'll see you again really soon, be brave okay?”

  
She stepped back so there was plenty of space around her, and he watched as the glow increased and surrounded her. Then something occurred to him.

  
“How many babies have you got in there?” he called out to her.

  
“Three you asshole, we're having triplets!”

  
The glow suddenly flared so brightly he had to cover his eyes, and when it died away there was a familiar figure lying unconscious on the floor.

  
He rushed to pick her up, “Helva could you let Jane and Steve know that our Darcy is back, and I'm taking her to her room.”

  
He left without waiting for an answer, eyes locked on the girl cradled in his arms. When he got to her room, Jane and Steve were waiting for him.

  
Once Darcy was safely tucked into bed, Jane shooed them both from the room.

  
“Neither of you say anything about any of this to anyone, okay? Future Darcy told me our Darcy doesn't know any of what's going to happen, but she's given me a heads up about a lot of stuff. We,” she indicated the three of them, “will have a good chat later, but for now, zipped lips, okay?”

  
The boys both nodded.

  
Jane looked at Bucky with a happy smile then, “Congratulations by the way, I'm really happy for you both.”

  
Bucky smiled back, “As Darcy would probably say, best lab accident ever.”

 

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betcha you didn't see THAT coming!! *laughs evilly into the sunset*


	16. Just Add Glitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky's confused, and Darcy has a glue gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heheh… is this where I disappoint everyone by saying we probably won't be seeing any babies in the rest of this story? That's a whole year in the future! *ducks and runs for cover *

 

 

**Just Add Glitter**

  
December 16th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Bucky was trying to figure out what to do. Yesterday's ‘incident’ had completely blindsided him, and his initial euphoria had now died down to a strange mixture of joy, doubt and disbelief. Had it really happened? Was he really going to find the courage to approach Darcy romantically? Was he really going to become the father of triplets?? Triplets! Aw hell. He wasn't sure what to do next, but going by the size of Future Darcy's bump, something would have to happen pretty soon.

  
He was still brooding on his bed, ignoring his phone, which had buzzed or chimed at him several times in the last hour or so, when Steve came looking for him. He sat down on the edge of the bed, and gave Bucky a look.

  
“You're overthinking it Buck. Whatever’s going to happen, will happen, no matter what you think right now.”

  
“You're pretty optimistic Steve,” Bucky said.

  
“Maybe.” Steve shrugged his shoulders. “Or maybe I've been talking to Jane, and she thinks that what we have here is a paradoxical loop, so it **has** to happen, because it already **has** happened.”

  
“What?” Bucky stared at him blankly.

  
Steve sighed, and shifted on the bed.

  
“So, Jane says, if Darcy hadn't time swapped with herself, then you wouldn't know that she likes you the way you like her, and then you'd continue moping and pining, so you wouldn't get together at the right time - or at all - then she wouldn't fall pregnant, and either she'd time swap not pregnant, or more likely she wouldn't time swapped at all, and yesterday wouldn't have happened. But yesterday **did** happen, so everything else has to happen. Or something. I kind of got confused halfway through,” he admitted.

  
“Confusing is an understatement Steve,” Bucky replied, but he was smiling now, and when his phone chimed at him again, he didn't ignore it.

  
There were messages from both Helva and Darcy, requesting his help with some final preparations for tomorrow's Christmas Party.

  
“I got things I should be doing by the looks of it,” he said to Steve as he rolled off the other side of the bed.

  
“Well have fun, and I'll catch up with you later. Got some stuff of my own I need to do.”

  
Bucky waited until he'd left, and then looked at the most recent message again.

  
_And bring Steve's shield with you if possible please._

  
What on earth did Darcy want with Steve's shield?

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
When Bucky and the shield arrived at the conference room, Darcy was talking to Wanda and Pietro about decorating the main hanger for the party. With a forecast of unusually cold weather it had been decided to have the party inside. Whilst some of the jets had been left for people to look at, the rest had all been squeezed into maintenance hangars, or left on the landing pads.

  
So far Darcy's co-opted team had erected a large pavilion, for where Santa would sit; another, larger pavilion, which would be an eating area; two different bouncy castles; a mini carousel; some dodgem cars; a penned off area for a petting zoo and a mini sideshow alley. And a stage.

  
Darcy finished giving the twins their final instructions, and as they left Darcy turned to Bucky with shining happy eyes, and he felt all his reservations disappear.

  
“Did you bring it?” she asked him eagerly, and almost jumped out of her chair when he nodded and held it up.

  
“So am I allowed to know what you want it for, or is it a secret?” he asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

  
“Oh don't you look at me like that Bucky Barnes,” she said as she took the shield and laid it carefully on the table. “I've got no secrets from you.”

  
She stepped back, eyed the shield critically, and then bent down to grab a box from under the table.

  
“What's in the box?” he asked, settling into a seat on the other side of the table.

  
“Green glitter, and glue,” Darcy said as she reached up to place the items on the table. “We're going to Christmas-ise Steve's shield for the party tomorrow.”

  
Bucky considered this for a moment. “Why?”

  
“Well,” Darcy shook her hair back over her shoulder as she stood up again, “I ran into the Bartons this morning, and their kids told me how excited they are to see Captain America, and Falcon, and the Winter Soldier all dressed up as Father Christmas, and was Steve gonna be carrying his shield, and would Falcon have Redwing and how big is your gun going to be?” she paused for breath. “So I said, the shield can probably be arranged, I'm not sure about Redwing, and Santa doesn't carry guns, even if it is the Winter Soldier in the costume, and then Lila asked if the shield was to be decorated in Christmas colours, soooo… I promised her I'd do my best.”

  
“You like kids, huh?” a perfectly legitimate question he told himself.

  
“Sure, especially Clint’s kids, they're smart little brats, but still adorable.” Darcy was holding up what might have been considered a lethal weapon in some countries, and doing something to the shield.

  
“What's that?” he asked.

  
“A glue gun. I made some modifications, most of them are flimsy little things. I needed a super industrial strength model.”

  
She was now laying strips of something green and shiny over the glue she'd dabbed on, working quickly and in small sections.

  
“Is it gonna come off afterwards?” he asked curiously.

  
Darcy nodded as she concentrated. “It's a special glue, it'll peel right off after the party.”

  
“What if there's a call to Assemble?”

  
“The glitter sheets are very durable, I mean, it's gonna have to withstand a whole bunch of kids tomorrow.”

  
“Sounds like you've got everything covered then,” he remarked.

  
“Well, I try. I've learned to plan for the worst case scenarios where Jane's experiments are concerned, cos you never know what might happen,” she said brightly, but he thought he detected an edge to her voice, and for the first time wondered what her experience had been yesterday.

  
“Right. All done.” Darcy stood up and displayed the shield in front of her, striking a pose reminiscent of the USO girls behind it. “Waddya think?”

  
Steve's shield had been transformed. Darcy had glued the green glitter all over the silver rings, and the blue center, leaving only the red rings and the silver star their original colours.

  
“Perfect,” he said.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm slowly catching up… let's see if I can do it before Christmas actually happens eh??
> 
> Also, Rogue One was fantastic, I wanna go see it again!


	17. Mr and Mrs Claus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Christmas Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have caved to pressure and wrote another thing. It's a thing about 2016 Darcy, and what happened in 2017. It won't go up until after chapter 18 though, I think, and it will be a separate work, and will leave you all swearing at me, and asking more questions. Sorrynotsorry.
> 
> Also, suggestions for the series title might be helpful :-)
> 
> Posting from my phone, unbeta'd, etc etc etc.

 

 

**Mr and Mrs Claus**

  
December 17th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Darcy stared at her new costume with vague doubts.

  
“I don't know Jane, do you really think this is a good idea?” she asked. “I'm not so sure any more.”

  
“Don't be silly,” Jane replied as she pushed Darcy towards the change screens. “That man is completely and utterly gone for you, trust me.”

  
“But Jane…” Darcy whined.

  
Jane poked her head around the screen. “No, whatever you're going to say, just no. Trust me. Now put that on.”

  
Several minutes later Darcy stepped out from behind the screen, and did a quick twirl.

  
“Well?”

  
“Oh, that's perfect,” Natasha said as she slid in through the door of the changing area, returning from her stint as one of Sam's elves. “He's not going to know where to look first.”

  
“I know right?” Jane agreed. “Do you want to take her out while I get changed? I'm afraid she's going to run away on me,” she whispered to the other woman as Darcy looked at herself in the mirror.

  
“Of course, I'll make sure she's exactly where she needs to be,” Natasha assured her. “And I'll give her a good look at the target.”

  
“Oh, is he out there already?” Jane asked in surprise. “Dammit, I knew we were running late.”

  
“It's okay, he's only just gone out. You'll both be in place by the time he gets to the pavilion. Now hurry.”

  
As Jane disappeared behind the screen, Nat approached Darcy.

  
“Come on, time to go,” she said. “You've got some socks to knock off.”

  
They'd all noticed the subtle change in Darcy's behaviour since her time swap two days ago, but so far she'd refused to talk to anyone about it. Jane had taken Nat aside yesterday, and told her about the time swap that had happened in the lab, in accordance with Future Darcy's instructions.

  
They walked to the top of the stairs together, and Natasha paused them on the landing as she searched for the figure of the Jolly Fat Man. She could see Steve Santa leaving the pavilion with Helen Elf and Sharon Elf tagging along behind him, the Christmas-ised shield held up in front of him. The kids had loved it, not a single person caring that Captain America was in Santa's suit, and everyone knew it. Santa was Santa, no matter who was wearing the costume. (Although Captain Santa was a thing that would grow into legend). She continued searching for Bucky. Ah, there he was.

  
“Look,” she pointed him out to Darcy just as he looked up and noticed them. Nat could see his jaw drop even though they were on the opposite side of the hangar. She just hoped Darcy had noticed it as well. “He makes a good Santa,” she said admiringly.

  
“He sure does,” Darcy said, sounding more like her usual self. “Oh gods and now he's holding a baby,” she sighed. “Nat, I think my ovaries just exploded. If he so much as just looks at me right now, I swear, I'll be popping out triplets in like, 8 months.“

  
Natasha almost couldn't believe it when Bucky looked straight up at them again, and pointed them out to the toddler sibling of the baby he was holding. Mrs Claus and an elf on a balcony - well, close enough to a balcony - together. She hoped someone was getting photos.

  
“Wave,” she prodded Darcy, who was just standing there staring.

  
“What?” Darcy looked startled, but she recovered quickly, and with a big smile waved at Santa Bucky and the children.

  
“Come on Nat, I've got a Santa to take care of.”

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
By the time Nat and Darcy reached the enclosed Santa pavilion, Jane had caught up and they all met Bucky Santa at the entrance. He was hamming it up for all he was worth, and with the full encouragement of all the children and their attendant parents, greeted Darcy Claus with much enthusiasm, a huge Santa hug, and a big kiss on the cheek, which had some members of the crowd cheering for more.

  
Darcy watched contentedly as the children lined up to sit on Santa's knee. She had it on good authority that most of them had already spoken with both other Santa's, and that many of them now had the beginnings of their own little photo collections. Bucky may not be the most popular or active Avenger, but he was still an Avenger, and that carried a lot of weight. Especially to collectors. After seeing that some of the Avengers support personnel were also lining up for photos she suspected that some more new trading cards would also be making the rounds very soon. (Natasha had released the elf photos early that morning.)

  
The thing that really surprised Darcy though, was the number of kids that wanted a photo with Mrs Claus as well. Natasha, who had hung around for the entertainment, quickly set her up with a bench seat (Darcy had no idea where from though), and Darcy became the centerpiece of just as many photos as any of the Santa's as the word spread.

  
Eventually the time came to close the lines, and Santa's pavilion closed. As the last kids drifted away, Darcy looked over to find Bucky slumped on the Santa throne, watching her. She got up, stretched, and wandered over to stand next to him.

  
“Tired?” she asked as she leaned against the arm of the throne. Bucky peered at her from behind his beard and hat, nodding.

  
“I'll be right in a few minutes. How are you?”

  
She laughed and ducked her head, “I'm good, that was fun. And unexpected.”

  
“I really like your costume,” Bucky said with a smile, just as Maria came in, still in her own elf outfit.

  
“You know, we should get a photo of you two together, Mr and Mrs Claus,” Maria said. “The photographer's still here.”

  
Darcy peered beyond Maria to see, and then let out a squeal as Bucky tugged her into his lap, looking up at him indignantly.

  
“Smile for the camera,” he murmured in her ear, and she shivered slightly from the tickle of his beard. She smiled happily at the camera as it clicked away, and then the photographer was taking it off the tripod, and heading for the stage, where the nativity play had just started.

  
“You two are officially off duty now,” Maria said from the pavilion doorway. “Take a break, grab something to eat, get changed if you want too. Fireworks will be on in about an hour, and then it's all done.” She gave Darcy a big smile, “You did a great job, thank you very much.“

  
“No problem Maria, it was fun, and Bucky was a great help.” She reached a hand up to pat his face, and got a handful of beard instead. “Oops,” she giggled. When she looked back at the door, Maria was gone.

  
“Maria's right, you did an amazing job of organising all this,” Bucky said quietly in her ear.

  
“Ugh, your beard keeps tickling me,” she said, trying to wriggle away from it. He caught her in his arms.

  
“Could you stop squirming please?” he asked as he pulled his hat off and tossed it in the floor, followed swiftly by the beard.

  
“What? Why?” she said as she looked into his face, and then stilled as she registered the look on his face. A slow smile spread across her face. “Am I making things uncomfortable for you?” she asked slyly.

  
“Darcy…”

  
“You started it,” she said, and then she lifted her chin and kissed him. For a moment she thought she'd got it wrong, and then he wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her back.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The triplet line in this chapter came first btw. I wrote it a couple of weeks ago, when I first started writing this story. The time travel chapter kind of hit me out of the blue, and pretty much just wrote itself, as did its sequel.  
> If you want visuals for the elf costumes, Leibekatze has kindly posted some pictures in one of the comment threads on chapter 14. You'll have to Google sexy Mrs Claus costumes yourselves though, and whilst you're at it, look up hot/sexy Santa… there's not a lot of some of those costumes!


	18. Captain Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's recovering from the party, and Bucky asks Darcy out on a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Tuesday isn't it? Best news, my mum booked last minute flights and is coming for Christmas!! Yay. She gets here on Thursday, so unless I catch up on this before then, I think our chances will go right downhill. 
> 
> So I can either do very short chapters to catch up and continue, or try for similar lengths to what I've already done, and drag the catching up through til New Year... anyway, we'll see what happens!! I think I'd rather go option 2.

 

 

**Captain Christmas**

  
December 18th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
As Darcy slowly drifted up through the layers of sleep, she registered two things. One, she was lying on top of someone, and two, she wasn't in her own bed. Actually, she realised as she drifted closer to being awake, she didn't think she was in a bed at all, plus there was a dull ache in her head. Then she registered another thing. Her bladder. She groaned, and the body underneath hers shifted. The half naked body underneath her. Bucky. It was Bucky, she remembered now. And she'd kissed him in the Santa pavilion before they'd tried to sneak away, but Steve the Oblivious had waylaid them and then there were Tony's Avengers themed fireworks, and finally, a call to Assemble just as all the cleaning up and packing away was done, so those left behind decided to have a drink while they waited for the Avengers to come back… oh, and she really needed to do something about her bladder.

  
“Bucky,” she whispered. “I need to get up.”

  
“Stay,” he mumbled.

  
She prodded him in the ribs. “I need to get up, or you'll be swimming,” she said bluntly. Next thing she knew, she was on her feet, a blanket slowly slipping off her shoulders.

  
“Woah,“ she said, wobbling slightly. Bucky stared up at her from the lounge, and she flashed him a smile as she dashed off.

  
She took a moment in the the bathroom to fix herself up a bit. She was still wearing the Mrs Claus outfit - although the shoes had disappeared - and both it and her hair were slightly worse for wear, but she was very surprised to notice that her makeup was still perfect. Not a smudge. She idly wondered if Wanda somehow used her powers in her cosmetics, and made a mental note to ask later. She pulled up the stripey stockings, and headed back to the common room.

  
She and Bucky weren't the only ones who'd crashed in there last night… or was it early this morning? Sharon and Pepper were draped over each other on one lounge, Maria and Jane were at opposite ends of another, and Helen was curled up on a large cushion in the middle of the rug. To Darcy's surprise, Scott was laid out flat on the other side of the rug, his daughter sprawled on top of him. Someone had covered them all with blankets.  
  
Bucky was busy in the kitchen, wearing nothing but his Santa pants, and hat. She tried not to stare as he handed her a brimming cup of coffee and a tall glass of water when she joined him.

  
“Why are we all in here?” she asked him as she sipped carefully at the life giving liquid.

  
“We were watching the team on the television,” he said quietly. “Some nutjob decided that attacking a Christmas Parade in New Zealand was a good idea, and once he was taken care of the city insisted that the Avengers join the parade.”

  
He picked up the remote control and flicked the tv back on, muting it straight away. “Every news channel streamed the whole thing live, and they've been repeating the highlights ever since. Everyone loves his Christmassy shield by the way - Captain Christmas is trending on all the social media platforms, and I've seen ads for at least three different replica Christmas Shields already.”

  
Darcy's jaw dropped. “I don't remember any of that.”

  
He smiled at her. ”You fell asleep after your second drink, so you missed most of it.”

  
“What is that?” she asked, eyes glued to the screen.

  
“It's a Kiwi bird,” Bucky said, looking at the float that was currently holding pride of pace on the screen, the Avengers walking behind it, waving at the crowd. “It's their national bird I think.”

  
Darcy considered it for a moment. “Well it's prettier than the bald eagle I suppose,” she declared. Bucky chuckled.

  
“So any idea how much longer they'll be gone for?” Darcy asked as she drained her coffee.

  
“This is re-runs and highlights now, they should be back soon,” Bucky replied.

  
“In that case, wanna go somewhere else?” she lowered her voice, “I do not feel like socialising at the moment, and people look like they're starting to wake up.”

  
He glanced over at the living area. Darcy was right, there were definite signs of life. He looked back at Darcy.

  
“Would you like go out with me?” he asked.

  
“Like, on a date? Where?” she asked with interest.

  
“I... don't actually get out much,” he admitted. “What would you like to do?”

  
She tapped a finger on her bottom lip, and thought hard. “Do you like space action movies?” she asked.

  
“Love them,” he nodded.

  
“Okay then, we'll shower and change, then meet me in the garage in 20 minutes. We'll get pancakes, and then I'm gonna take you to a movie.”

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Captain Christmas and his Christmas Shield!! Anyone wanna draw/make a picture??


	19. Shop ‘til You Drop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky's spreading his wings, and taking a few people with him as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've gone for option 2, and updates will be when I have the time :-) seeing as my phone data is also running very low, and I have no idea when our home Internet will be up and running, I'll just plod along, and do what I can. :-)
> 
> (Also - Three cheers for free WiFi at the local shops!!!)

 

 

**Shop ‘til You Drop**

  
December 19th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
It was early morning when Steve wandered into the cafeteria. Bucky was already there, eating his breakfast, and looking at something on his phone. Steve had been surprised to discover that his friend was nowhere to be found when they got home from New Zealand yesterday, and even more surprised when no one knew where he'd gone.

  
“So what happened to you yesterday?” he decided to just get straight to the point.

  
“Went out,” Bucky replied sedately, putting his phone away.

  
“Out?”

  
“Yep.”

  
“Where?” Steve asked.

  
“Movies,” was the reply.

  
Steve was surprised. “At the cinema?” he asked.

  
“Well it wasn't an amusement park,” Bucky retorted as he shoved a piece of toast in his mouth. “No big deal.”

  
“I was just surprised, that's all. You don't usually leave the base,” Steve pointed out.

  
Bucky sighed. “Yeah, well maybe it's time for me to change that. I want… no, I **need** to get out more.” He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “I'm gonna be a **father** Steve! I gotta be prepared.”

  
Steve raised an eyebrow.

  
“So to start with, I'm going to go do some shopping. You up for it?”

  
“Shopping? What for?”

  
“Christmas presents you moron. Isn't that what people usually shop for at this time of year?”

  
“Did I hear someone say they're going Christmas shopping?” Sam asked as he sat down next to Steve.

  
Steve waved a hand at Bucky. “Our favourite hermit here has decided he needs to get out more,” Steve informed Sam. Bucky just looked at him reproachfully.

  
“Good idea,” Sam said. “I've been telling him that for months. Mind if I tag along?”

  
“The more the merrier,” Bucky said, still giving Steve sad puppy eyes. “I'm leaving in half an hour.”

  
Steve watched Bucky leave, and turned to Sam. "You’re going to go too? You really think that's a good idea?”

  
“Think about it Steve,” Sam said. “Bucky Barnes - The Winter Soldier- publicity shunner extraordinaire, and self proclaimed hermit, willingly planning on taking himself Christmas shopping. He's gonna do it no matter what we say. You wanna let him go alone?”

  
Steve thought about it.

  
Shit.

  
Steve downed the rest of his coffee, and took off for his room.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Steve stared up at the enormous tree that stood in the middle of the center courtyard of the gigantic shopping center they were in. It was nearly three stories high, (the complex itself was five), and decorated to within an inch of falling over. They had been here for at least five hours now, Bucky dragging them from shop to shop in a very determined and methodical manner. Scott, Sam and Pietro had thrown themselves into the expedition with as much enthusiasm and a great deal more good cheer, whilst Steve had tagged along, keeping an eye out for threats as the collection of shopping bags had grown exponentially.

  
It was when he’d paused for a quick chat with a group of teens who'd recognised him - despite the cap and glasses he was wearing - that he'd become separated from the group. That had been two hours ago. Bucky had eventually texted him to meet them at the Christmas Tree, but as he looked around the crowded area he couldn't see any of his friends through the crowds of shoppers.

  
With a sigh, he pulled out his phone and dashed off another quick text to Bucky, then, realising he should have done this one and a half hours ago, copied the message and sent it to Sam, Scott and Pietro as well. He'd barely put the phone back in his pocket when Pietro appeared beside him, startling a pair of elderly ladies, and attracting the attention of several children in the process.

  
“Pietro! We're supposed to be keeping this quiet,” Steve rebuked the young man.

  
“What? You asked where we were, so I came to get you. You're at the wrong tree.” Pietro grinned as he led Steve in the right direction. “Anyway, everyone knows we’re here already, why bother hiding?”

  
“What do you mean the wrong tree?” Steve asked, ignoring the comment about hiding as they fought their way through the crowds.

  
“There's another one at the other end of the center.”

  
“There's two of these monstrosities?” Steve asked in disbelief.

  
“Yes.”

  
After several minutes of battling through the crowds they finally found the rest of the group at an overflowing cafe near an equally monstrous Christmas tree.

  
There was a very large collection of bags on the floor under their table, and there was also a trolley that was loaded up with even more bags and one very large box.

  
“Please tell me that doesn't all belong to Bucky,” Steve said without much hope.

  
“You want me to lie to you?” Pietro asked, then relented. “It does not all belong to Bucky. Sam has some bags, and everything in the trolley belongs to Scott.”

  
“Any of that yours?”

  
“Maybe. There are some very nice jewellery stores here, maybe I found something pretty for my sister,” Pietro winked at him. Which meant he found something for his sister, as well as several other somethings for whichever junior agents and administrative staff Pietro was chasing after at the moment, Steve thought to himself. Maybe he'd take a look himself if he got the chance.

  
“So is everyone done yet?” Steve asked as he sat down at the table.

  
There were satisfied nods all round, and Steve was just about to breath a sigh of relief when Bucky spoke.

  
“Just got one more thing I wanna look at Stevie.”

  
There were groans all round. So he wasn't the only one who'd had enough of this particular circus.

  
“No, no, no, just me and Steve,” Bucky assured the rest of them. “It'll only take a few minutes, and we'll meet you at the car.”

  
They finished their coffees and their cakes, and then Sam procured another cart for Bucky's bags, and the two groups headed in opposite directions.

  
“So what is it you want to show me?” Steve asked as they battled through what seemed like even bigger crowds than half an hour ago.

  
“Something I didn't want to take a good look at with the others around,” Bucky said. “Something I'll be needing to think about soon enough.”

  
He stopped opposite a small shop that was rendered almost invisible by the two garishly decorated chain stores on either side of it.

  
Steve stared at it, a sudden feeling of envy for the future that Bucky had suddenly discovered laid out for him.

  
“I like the hammock thing they've got the baby Jesus in,” Bucky said softly. “And I can already picture the rocking chair in a corner of the nursery.”

  
Steve made a spur of the moment decision.

  
“You know, who's really going to care if Captain America and his best friend stop to admire a nativity display?” Steve said as he stepped forward. “It is Christmas after all.”

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer!! I know nothing about American shopping centres apart from what I see in movies and on television. So as far I'm concerned, bigger is better. *cackles* 
> 
>  
> 
> And Bucky totally sold Steve out to the kids who ‘recognised’ him. “No, that's definitely him, you should ask him for his autograph and a photo.”


	20. Baking With Carols

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy needs a pick me up, Wanda is sick of the wallowing, and baking to Christmas Music!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It hit 35°C here the day I started this chapter (Wednesday), then we got an awesome thunderstorm.

 

 

**Baking With Carols**

  
December 20th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Darcy slumped over her desk and grumbled quietly to herself under her breath. Here she was, less than a week out from Christmas, and not feeling the tiniest bit of Christmas spirit AT ALL. She must have used it all up on the party she thought to herself. She sighed dramatically, but there was no one around to notice, which caused an even bigger, more self pitying sigh.

  
Then there was the whole time travel issue, which she couldn't stop thinking about, but was in no way ready to talk to Jane about. Not that Jane was even here right now. Thor had waltzed into the lab early this morning and whisked her off… somewhere.

  
She sighed again, and was preparing to propel herself further down the spiral of misery she was working herself into when there came a tap at the door. She sat up, and spun around on her chair.

  
“Please don't think that I am prying, but I can feel your emotions from the other side of the base,” Wanda said delicately.

  
“Oh gods Wanda, I'm so sorry,” Darcy apologised. “You should **not** have to put up with my self indulgent wallowing.”

  
Wanda smiled and shrugged. “It's better than Pietro’s self indulgent narcissism and skirt chasing. Can I help?”

  
Darcy slumped over her desk again. “Probably not…” she began, and then tipped her head up to peer at Wanda her over her elbow. “But then again, maybe.” She sat up. “Wanna do some baking with me? I'll introduce you to some of the best and worst Christmas music of all time,” she offered.

  
Wanda nodded. “I think that sounds good. What are we going to make?”

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
They spent several enjoyable hours baking a wide variety of Christmas themed snacks, nibbles and treats, and listening to a surprising range of traditional, classic and modern Christmas music, and attracting the attention of any Avengers who happened to be on base during the day.

  
Steve and Bucky wandered in whilst Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Old Blue Eyes were playing and the shortbread was baking, but disappeared quick smart when the Snoop Dog and New Kids On The Block festive contributions started.

  
Attracted by the smell of cheese twists and mince pies, Sam, Scott and Pietro hung around for more than an hour of kid friendly mixes - including but not limited to - The Wiggles, Elmo, Hi-5 and The Peppermint Candy Kids, with Scott requesting copies of some of the less familiar songs to send to his daughter.

  
Nat and Maria showed up for the rum balls and truffles, and stayed through 17 different versions of Last Christmas, alternating with 13 versions of All I Want For Christmas Is You. It kept the boys away for almost two hours before they all invaded together, and insisted on a more balanced mix. The whole team then spent several more hours getting right into the Christmas spirit before another Assemble was called. The on duty Avengers left to go save the world, and everyone else dispersed, pilfered treats in hand.

  
Darcy was feeling much better after a day spent surrounded by friends - in fact she was feeling so good now, she almost felt ready to talk to Jane. Almost. But she wanted to talk to someone else first. She looked at the clock. Almost midnight. She idly wondered where Bucky was.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Bucky had left with Steve when the call came in, sitting in on the briefing as he often did. Their target was a newly discovered, old abandoned Hydra base. The agents who discovered it had reported that whilst abandoned, there were still automated defenses operating, which usually meant that there would be information, equipment or both inside. The plan was to infiltrate, retrieve, and destroy whatever couldn't be moved or taken with them. This wasn't a base that Bucky was very familiar with, but he was able to point out the probable locations of the defenses, as well as the control room, laboratories and prisoner cells.

  
After the team left, Bucky sat in thought for a long while before finally returning to his room. When he got there, he was surprised to find Darcy curled up against the wall next to his door, fast asleep.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I grew up with The Peppermint Candy Kids, my kids have grown up with the Hi-5 Christmas album. If Elmo hasn’t done anything Christmassy I'd be very surprised.  
> Look up Hi-5 on YouTube/iTunes/Google Play. My favourites are Santa Wear Your Shorts, Santa Claus is Coming and 5 Days Til Christmas.


	21. Paradox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky comes up with some very good ideas regarding time travel paradoxes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plodding, plodding… still no home Internet. Looks like we probably won't get it until after Christmas (cue oceans of tears from whole family!)
> 
> (Also, I always start the notes when I start the chapter, so that was written at least 2 days ago.)
> 
> Have an extra long chapter for Christmas:-)

 

**Paradox**

  
December 21st

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Bucky paused for a moment, looking at Darcy. She was lying on her side, back to the wall, head resting on an outstretched arm, her other hand tucked under her chin, glasses askew on her face. Her hair was still pulled back from the baking marathon she and Wanda had embarked on, although a few wisps had escaped to drift over her face. She looked almost angelic - uncomfortable, but angelic. He felt his heart lurch slightly.

  
He knelt down, brushed the stray hair away from her face, then gently shook her by the shoulder. She woke with a start, blinking owlishly at him in the dim light of the corridor.

  
“Wassappening?” she mumbled.

  
“I was gonna ask you the same thing,” he said with a smile. “There a reason you're sleeping on my doorstep?”

  
She looked around, rubbing her eyes as she straightened her glasses.

  
“There was something I wanted to do…” she trailed off, eyes vague and distant as she chased the memory down. He waited patiently.

  
Her eyes refocused and she looked back at him. “Oh that's right, um, I wanted to talk to you about something. Are you busy?”

  
“Well, it's well after one am, so no, not particularly.”

  
“One am?” she squeaked, “Oh, I can come back in the morning if you want, you must be ready for sleep, right?”

  
He shook his head as he held out a hand to help her up. She took it gratefully.

  
“I don't actually sleep a lot, so if you want to talk, then I'm happy to listen,” he replied, as with a swift tug he had her on her feet, and stumbling against his chest. She made no effort to step back, but seemed content to stay there.

  
“Oh, I didn't know that,” she said, lifting her head up to peer at him. “Are you sure, cos I need to talk to someone who isn't Jane about something.”

  
Bucky looked at her carefully - she had dark rings under eyes and she looked worried.

  
“Come on, let's go inside.” He unlocked the door and led her into his room.

  
“I love what you've done with the place,” she said dryly, as she looked around at the empty walls, and standard issue furniture. The bed, a single bookcase, a bedside table with a lamp and a chest of drawers.

  
“Haven't really had the urge to do anything with it,” he admitted. Decorating his room had never seemed to be a priority. In fact he'd never really even thought about it. He had no memorabilia or photos that he needed to display; no knick knacks or dust collectors, and when he wanted to watch TV he went to the common area. She seemed to realise his discomfort as she stood idly next to the edge of the bed.

  
“Dude it's okay, makes it easy to clean when you don't have shit all over the place. My room usually looks like a bomb hit it or something. I should take a page from your decorating book.”

  
“No, anything is better than this,” he replied.

  
“So, where should I sit?” she asked after a minute.

  
He recovered himself, and waved a hand at her. “The bed’s fine. There's nowhere else anyway,” he said. “I haven't really needed it.”

  
She nodded as she sat down. “These rooms aren't really built for living in are they? Tiny little boxes, that contain just the bare essentials.” She shifted a bit and looked at him warily.

  
“So what did you want to talk to me about?” he asked, a little curious as to what she wanted.

  
“Ah yes, that. Right. Um, okay, so.”

  
He waited patiently for her to get herself together as he started to have a vague inkling of what she wanted to talk to him about.

  
“Can I tell you something unbelievable?” she asked in a rush.

  
“You know, there's actually not a lot I find unbelievable anymore,” Bucky replied, as he sat next to her.

  
Darcy sighed, and her gaze wandered away. ”Yeah, you've got a point there, but I think this is a whole other level,” she said cynically. “I'm not sure if I even believe it, and I lived it. Unless it was a dream.”

  
“Tell me. I promise to keep an open mind,” Bucky said reassuringly.

  
“Okay, so something happened to me last week,” she began. “Because of the whole Christmas party thing, I kind of left Jane alone in the lab, for like, waay too long and she got bored or something and built a new machine. This funny little doodad thing. I don't even know what it was supposed to do.”

  
She took a deep breath before she continued.

  
“I got down there just as she turned it on, and I don't know if something went wrong, or if it did what it was meant to do, but…” she paused, hesitated.

  
“But?” he asked.

  
“But I ended up a year in the future,” she said in a rush. “Can you believe that? A whole year... in the future.”

  
“That's… yeah, that's pretty weird,” Bucky agreed, thinking about her future counterpart.

  
“It is, right? But that's not the weirdest bit,” Darcy said in a manner he recognised as her ‘full launch’ mode. He was about to get a real story here.

  
“See, I walked into the lab just as Jane flicked the switch, so I pushed her out of the way but before I could turn it off there was this bright light, and the whole world lurched, and next thing I know I'm lying on the floor, feeling like I'm about to throw up all over the place. Then, I roll over, open my eyes, and there's Jane and Nat, standing right. There. Aaand I'm pretty sure they were waiting for me, cos they weren't surprised at all. Plus they had food, and the lab was locked down. They wouldn't tell me anything, just made me eat - although, I was pretty hungry - and they wouldn't let me leave.”

  
“How long were you there for?” he asked when she stopped to draw breath.

  
“About an hour? They said I would be there for an hour, but even though I tried really hard, they wouldn't tell me anything else about what was happening.” She paused for a moment. “Then… right at the end, just before I came back here, you showed up.”

  
“I was there?” This was new information. “What was I doing?”

  
“Staring at me like I was a ghost.” she said quietly, all of her former exuberance and indignation gone. “And then you turned away from me.”

  
“Maybe it was a dream then,” Bucky said uncomfortably, having no idea why he would do that to her.

  
“Maybe. It didn't feel like a dream though, it felt really real.”

  
He nodded, “Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. I still have days where I'm not sure if all this isn't just a dream.”

  
“I'm quite sure this is real,” she smiled at him.

  
“It better be. So, just out of curiosity, why did you decide to tell me about this?” he asked.

  
She took a deep breath, and looked at him sideways from the corner of her eye. “Cos I like you. I mean, really like you, and I'm hoping there's a really good reason why you did that, but I just can't think right now.” She looked away again, staring down at her hands in her lap. “I'm wondering if I'm more worried about it than I should be,” she said wearily.

  
Bucky shifted on the bed, and then gently put his arm around her shoulder and drew her into his side. Now, how to reassure her without revealing anything he wondered. Well he could start with some truth, that was always a good idea.

  
“I like you too,” he told her. “Like, really like you, and while I can't pretend to know what's going to happen over the next year,” - technically he wasn't lying to her he told himself - “I'm sure I can think of at least a couple of reasons for my obviously bad behaviour,” Bucky offered, wanting only for her to be reassured.

  
“Yeah? Like what? I want examples,” she demanded as she rested her head on his shoulder.

  
“Okay,” Bucky thought fast. “Maybe I was thinking I was in a dream? Maybe you were supposed to be somewhere else, like on Asgard with Jane or in the middle of some desert, star gazing. Or maybe you cut your hair in the future, and I was surprised because you didn't look right.” He wondered if this was grasping at straws.

  
Darcy laughed a little. “Hmmm, those are good reasons, but I don't think they're good enough. I mean, they might be possible, but not likely. Got any more?” she asked hopefully.

  
He pondered for a moment, and then dared to be brave. “Okay, how about this one - you like me, I like you - maybe it'll be our wedding day and I'm not supposed to see you before the ceremony,” he suggested.

  
“Wedding day?!” Darcy’s voice squeaked at him. “Well it would certainly explain the weird behaviour, but why would we set a wedding for a day we know I'm gonna be time travelling?” she pointed out, and he couldn't help chuckling. At least she didn't reject the idea outright.

  
“Maybe not then? Or how about this one, I react like that because you've just told me to,” he finished. “Maybe that's the most likely reason.”

  
“Oh,” Darcy breathed, “I think I'm beginning to understand what Janey means by ‘paradox’.”

  
“Paradox?” Bucky asked.

  
“Yeah, a thing happens to future me cos past me already did it… or maybe it's the other way around? I don't actually know - I didn't really listen that well. I think that was a mistake,” she admitted.

  
“It does pay to listen most of the time,” Bucky agreed. “So who else did you see in the future? Anyone?” he asked curiously.

  
“Just Jane and Nat mostly. They were both in the lab, and they wouldn't let me out, and all they would tell me was that I was in the future, and future me was here, in their past.”

  
“So have you talked to Jane about it?”

  
“No, not yet. There's things I apparently can't tell her, and I'm not ready anyway.”

  
“Well,” he said carefully. “Talking to Jane might be the best way of getting it all straight in your head. If there's things you can't tell her, then make a list, or write a speech or something and follow that.”

  
Darcy nodded. “That's a good idea, I might just do that. Thanks.”

  
“Thank you for the confidence,” he said.

  
“Thanks for listening,” she replied contentedly.

  
“So do you want to hear the weirdest bit?” she asked after a while. “The bit I absolutely can't tell Jane because she pretty much accused me of not telling her, when it turns out that I can't tell her, because she told me she didn't know?”

  
“What?” he felt just like he had when Steve gave him the paradox speech a couple of days ago.

  
“Oh gods this is confusing,” Darcy giggled and sat up to look at him properly. “Okay, so the first thing I saw in the future? You want to know what it was?” she said with a glint in her eye.

  
Her mood change was infectious, and he arched an eyebrow at her.

  
“What was the first thing you saw in the future?” he asked her dutifully.

  
She grinned. “Jane's huge baby bump. I mean, **really huge**.” She demonstrated with her hands.

  
Bucky blinked. “Jane gets pregnant?” it took all his effort and concentration not to say ‘too’.

  
“Yes!” Darcy crowed, “And I **can't** tell her, cos I **didn't t** ell her!”

  
Bucky nodded to himself. “I can see why you're reluctant to talk to her. It must be hard knowing that there's things you have to be careful about mentioning,” while thinking to himself that the struggle was most definitely a difficult one.

  
“You have no idea,” she sighed, leaning against him again.

  
“Well I'm glad I could help,” he replied, putting both arms around her this time.

  
“We should go out again,” she said suddenly, the change of subject taking him by surprise.

  
“Are you asking me on a date?” he asked.

  
“Yes. Yes I am,” she asserted.

  
“Alright then. But I get to choose it this time,” he insisted. “It's only fair.”

  
“I can live with that,” Darcy replied, and then yawned. “But I think I need some sleep first.”

  
“You can stay here if you want,” he offered.

  
“Date first,” she said sternly. “Then we can discuss sleepovers.”

 

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for me right now it's almost midnight on Christmas Eve. By the time I finish posting it will be Christmas. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas :-) and I'll see you again soon.


	22. Happy Holidays Hydra!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy does something unexpected and surprises Steve and Maria, Jane and Darcy talk… sort of. Bucky is proud of his girl. And a little bit scared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Food… naps… more food… Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day! Here is another longish chapter for your reading pleasure, my birthday gift from me to you. Enjoy!

 

**Happy Holidays Hydra!**

  
December 22nd

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Early Thursday morning, the technicians monitoring certain communication channels noticed the Hydra chatter was increasing. Then it went completely dead. Director Hill was called straight away, followed by Captain America. By the time they both arrived in the main communication tracking room, analysts had a primary diagnosis for them.

  
“They've what?” Maria demanded.

  
“They seem to have come under some sort of cyber attack which has completely shut down all their operations,” the technician repeated.

  
“How is that possible?” Steve asked.

  
“We're not entirely sure sir, however it does seem that whatever virus they've become infected with is sending data back. Er, to us,” another technician replied.

  
Maria rubbed her forehead. She could feel a headache beginning, one that she was beginning to associate with someone in particular.

  
“Is that data going somewhere specific?” she asked.

  
The first tech inspected the report he had in his hand.

  
“Yes Ma'am. The laboratories.”

  
“Goddamit,” Maria swore, and stormed out of the room. Startled, Steve hurried to catch up to her.

  
“Maria? Do you know what's going on here?” he asked as she stalked towards the labs.

  
“I have my suspicions,” she said curtly.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
“Darcy what did you do?” Maria asked as she stormed into the lab.

  
“Helva and I wrote a virus,” Darcy said distractedly as she tapped away at her keyboard.

  
“What kind of virus?” Maria asked.

  
“I call it the Happy Holidays virus,” Darcy said as she spun around on her chair. “Is it working?” she asked eagerly.

  
“What exactly does this ‘Happy Holidays’ virus do?” Steve asked cautiously.

  
“You want the long version or the simple version?” she asked with a devilish grin.

  
“The short version will do for now,” Maria said sourly. “And then I daresay we'll need the long version anyway.”

  
“We've effectively shut Hydra down until hopefully just after New Year,” Darcy said with a satisfied smile.

  
“How on earth did you manage that?” Steve asked curiously.

  
“Helva and I made a half dozen or so viral videos, and embedded a virus in each one that is designed to seek out particular words, phrases, etc that we know to be in extreme high frequency use by Hydra and it's agents,” Darcy explained.

  
“Like ‘Hail Hydra’?” Steve asked dryly.

  
“That's just one of them,” Darcy replied. “When the virus matches enough of the parameters, it releases the section of itself whose purpose is to shut down all their computers, effectively rendering them unable to continue normal operational procedure.”

  
“Why?” Maria asked.

  
“Cos I want an uninterrupted Christmas,” Darcy said irreverently. “I'm sick of people having to leave in the middle of the fun stuff.”

  
Steve and Maria exchanged glances.

  
“You created a virus that has shut down Hydra completely, because you want an undisturbed Christmas,” Maria said with an air of disbelief.

  
“Not completely and not permanently,” Darcy corrected her. “They'll figure out what happened in a few days, and like I said, we've probably got until New Year until they fix it.” She grinned at them. “At least, they'll think they've fixed it. It'll actually hide itself and then go dormant until next December, when it'll wake up again.”

  
Maria gaped at her, and threw her hands up in mock surrender. “I give up. Why did you think this was a good idea?” she demanded.

  
“Why isn't it?” Steve asked, turning to Maria. “Am I missing something, because as far as I can see, this is a good thing. It'll be nice to have a break from the constant call outs.”

  
“What if they trace it back to us?” Maria demanded. “We don't have the capacity to fend them off if they decide to try and wipe us out.”

  
“Don't stress Maria, if they do trace it backwards, it's gonna lead them to an old abandoned shopping center near Chernobyl. Plus, bonus? It's sending us the coordinates of every base it installs itself in. Come the new year, we'll have a whole new set of bases to wipe out,” and her tone of voice was decidedly vindictive.

  
Steve looked at Darcy with a whole new level of respect and admiration, and wondered if Bucky knew exactly what he was getting himself into.

  
“How did you get the videos to go viral?” he asked curiously. “Isn't that something that's completely up to chance?”

  
“Well yes and no,” Darcy began. “Obviously there was no guarantee that any of them would, but we did make about 20, and Helva used her superior analytical powers to increase our chances of producing something that would catch the fancy of the general Internet population.”

  
Maria narrowed her eyes again. “Cats and people hurting themselves right?”

  
“There's puppies too,” Darcy grinned. “As well as a particularly cute animated Christmas greeting with penguins, plus we also hijacked a dozen or so videos from popular YouTube channels for our nefarious purposes.”

  
Steve gave up trying to hide his smile as he turned to Maria. “Well I'm looking forward to the break,” he said. “Why don't we send all non essential personnel home, keep a skeleton crew of volunteers around in case of other emergencies, and enjoy Christmas?”

  
“Okay,” sighed Maria. “Just, run it by us before you do anything next time please Darcy?” she begged.

  
“Well I have a better idea than that Maria. I'd like to talk to you about the future when you have a spare half hour.”

  
“The future?” Maria echoed faintly.

  
“Yep. I have a proposal for you.”

  
Darcy did her best Cheshire cat impression, and Steve decided to beat a hasty retreat.

  
“I'll leave you two to it,” he excused himself, and went to find Bucky, and give him a heads up on the current situation.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Meanwhile, Jane and Thor had returned from wherever it was they'd gone to, and when Jane wandered back into the lab it was to find Darcy showing the specs of her virus to Natasha and a pair of the Avengers IT support staff. Jane busied herself catching up with her email until everyone left, and then wandered over to where Darcy was busy basking in her own glory.

  
“So what have you been up to while I was gone?” she asked curiously as she leaned against the desk.

  
Darcy told her.

  
“Wow. You have been busy,” Jane said admiringly. “I would never have thought of anything like that.”

  
“Well I didn't really have much to do, now that the party's all over, and I got bored. Did you have fun with Thor?”

  
“I did,” Jane nodded with a satisfied smile, and Darcy grinned back.

  
“So about the whole…”

  
“Are you doing okay?”

  
They both spoke at the same time.

  
“You go first,” Jane said.

  
“Okay,” Darcy nodded. “So, I'm still a bit freaked out by the whole time travel thing, but I've had a chance to think about it all, and you know what?”

  
“What?” Jane asked.

  
“I'm glad I don't know what's gonna happen to me. I don't know what happened here with Future me, but Future you and future Nat are pretty smart women, so I'm gonna trust you both. Plus this way, I still feel like I'm doing what I want to do, and not doing what I'm supposed to do cos I already did it.” Darcy grimaced. “This paradox shit really fucks with your mind.”

  
Jane nodded her agreement, “Yeah, it really does. So, what, we're just gonna ignore the whole thing?” she asked.

  
“I'm thinking we cross the bridges as we come to them,” Darcy offered. “Maintain the illusion of free will.”

  
Jane shrugged. “For what it's worth, future Darcy is pretty awesome too.”

  
“Course she is,” Darcy said. “She's me.”

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
“She did what?” Bucky asked Steve from his position on the weight bench, ignoring Sam's laughter from behind him.

  
“I'm noticing that that seems to be a common phrase where Darcy is concerned,” Steve pointed out “You two are either going to end up ruling the world together, or burning it down I think.”

  
“I just want to live a normal life Steve,” Bucky said, trying to decide if he should be scared or proud. Proud, go for proud, he told himself. Maybe just a touch of scared.

  
“You think you're gonna get a normal life with friends like us and a girl like her?” Sam pointed out.

  
Steve laughed. “Much as I hate to say it, Sam has a good point there.”

  
“Don't underestimate her,” Scott interjected. “I think if a normal life is what you want, then that's what you'll probably get. She **will** make that happen for you,” he insisted.

  
“I have a feeling that you might need to be careful with what you say around her at times though,” Sam pointed out. “She does tend to run with things I've noticed.”

  
Bucky sat up. “How do you two know anything about me and Darcy anyway?” he asked suspiciously as he grabbed his towel and headed for the locker room.

  
Sam put his hand up, as they trailed along behind him. “Well, you do tend to break out the heart eyes whenever she's around, not to mention everyone knows you two went on a movie date the other day. Also, Maria gave me something to give to you. She said to assure you it's the only copy she printed out.”

  
He pushed past Bucky, and rummaged around in his gym bag, pulling out a small envelope. He held it out, and Bucky took it.

  
He opened it, and slid out a small photo of Darcy and himself sitting on the Santa throne after the Christmas party. They were kissing.

  
“The only copy huh?” he raised an eyebrow at Sam.

  
“That's what she said,” Sam promised.

  
Bucky nodded and tucked it carefully into his own gym bag. “Anyone else got anything for me?” he asked after a moment.

  
“I'm still not sure about this photo trading thing,” Steve said as Scott told Bucky he had some back in his room.

  
“You're just saying that ‘cause my collection of you looks like a blooper reel,” Bucky retorted, and the other two men just snorted.   
“Actually I have some for you too Steve,” Sam chose a good moment for that bit of news Bucky thought, as Steve froze. Sam pulled another, slightly thicker envelope out of his bag and held it out.

  
“Only copies, and as far as I know only Maria has seen them. Your secret is safe… for now,” Sam smirked.

  
Steve took the envelope carefully and put it away without looking at it, and then left.

  
“You look like the cat that ate the cream,” Scott said reverently. “Who…”

  
Sam shook his head, “I'm sworn to secrecy, but if you pay close attention at the party tomorrow, you might be able to figure it out for yourself.”

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
When Bucky found Darcy she was curled up on the couch watching another Christmas movie. He sat down next to her, and she immediately paused the movie before shifting closer to him.

  
“So I hear you caused some trouble today?” he asked nonchalantly.

  
“Who me?” Darcy said with an air of innocence, and then winked at him. “More like I've removed a whole bunch of trouble,” she said with a great deal of self satisfaction.  
  
“How, by all that is holy, did you manage to bring Hydra to a standstill when everyone here,” he waved his hand around in a general, all encompassing gesture, “has been running around for the last few years, barely managing to keep up?”

  
“I have a Helva, and I'm addicted to YouTube,” Darcy said, flippantly, and then she saw the look on Bucky's face.

  
“Look, I'm actually a terrible hacker, but I lived through a lot of virus scares back in the day. It's not permanent, but it's also nothing that the tame hackers working here couldn't have done better if they'd just thought of it,” Darcy replied seriously. “I only succeeded because I have Helva. I've shown the whole thing to the IT department, and I can almost guarantee you that they'll make it like, a thousand times more effective within a week.”

  
Bucky settled into the couch, put his arm around her shoulders, and drew her closer to him.

  
“You're still the one who thought of it in the first place though,” he pointed out.

  
“Yeah, I am aren't I?” Darcy said, with not a small amount of self satisfaction.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me… another lovely day, a shopping trip, CAKE!! and presents. 
> 
> I hope to have either Internet or a visit to some free WiFi very soon so I can respond to comments soon. Fingers crossed :-)


	23. This Could be the Start of Something Beautiful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot find any inspiration for the secret Santa party, so have another date instead :-) all details are made up. Because I can. Also, another longish chapter (for this fic) taking the time restraint away from me has removed other restraints too apparently.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, this *should* theoretically be the 2nd last chapter, cos Advent Calendars finish on the 24th of December, BUT if there's any loose ends you want wrapped up, pls let me know and I'll see what I can do. :-)

 

 

**This Could be the Start of Something Beautiful**

  
**December 23rd**

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
“You know, I was going to take you out on our second date last night,” Bucky informed her as he appeared from out of nowhere.and leaned across her desk. “But you distracted me with the way you did the virus thing. So I think we should go out now.”

  
Darcy blinked at him from behind her glasses, then looked at the clock on the laboratory wall.

  
“Bucky, it's 5am. No one goes on a date at 5am,” she protested as he held his hand out. She eyed it suspiciously for a moment, and then took it with resignation.

  
He nodded as he tugged her out of her chair, “That's true, most people don't go out on dates at 5 in the morning, but we are not most people. Come on.”

  
“But I've been up all night with lab stuff for Jane. I need sleep,” she continued, but her heart wasn't in it. Her heart wanted to see what kind of date her former assassin almost boyfriend would take her on at such a ridiculous time of day

  
She followed him out of the lab, hand still held tightly in his.

  
“You can have a sleep in the car on the way,” he told her as they headed for the garage.”It'll take us a couple of hours to get there anyway.“

  
“A couple of … where are we going?” she asked in a baffled tone of voice.

  
He stopped, turned around, gently placed his hands on either side of face and looked her directly in the eyes. “It's a surprise,” he said before he bent his head and gently brushed her mouth with his. He pulled back slightly as she sighed, her eyes fluttering shut and then she felt his smile against her lips right before he pressed in again, harder this time and her knees almost buckled when he released her.

  
“Okay, I'll stop arguing now,” she surrendered as he drew back and smiled at her.

  
“I'll have to remember that trick,” he said with a wink. She gaped at him as they continued into the garage.

  
“Why you…” she started and then paused as Bucky stopped next to a vehicle that definitely wasn't one of the fleet cars, and opened the door for her.

  
“Your chariot awaits,” he announced, and gestured towards the seat with a flourish.

  
“Who's car is this?” she asked suspiciously.

  
“A friend's, it's on loan. What, you think I stole it?” he asked, affecting an offended tone as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.”

  
“No… it's just… oh, what the hell.”

  
She gave up, and got in. He raced around and hopped into the drivers seat, and minutes later they were cruising away from the base.

  
“So where are you taking me?” she asked again, but this time a sleepy yawn followed fast on the heels of her query.

  
“I told you, it's a surprise,” he said firmly.”You should try and get some sleep. There's a travel pillow thing in the glove box, and you can lean the seat almost all the way back. I'll wake you up when we're almost there.”

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

  
It was still dark when Bucky pulled the car in beneath the shelter of a large tree, but there was the dim hint of dawn showing along the horizon. He turned the engine off, and looked over to see Darcy's eyes flutter open as the engine vibrations disappeared.

  
“We're here?” she asked.

  
“Yeah, how you feeling? That was a good sleep you had there,” he observed.

  
“Ugh, not actually awake, just pretending,” she groaned as she sat up and peered into the darkness.

  
He laughed quietly as he opened the door. “Don't worry, you'll wake up soon enough. Come on.”

  
A short while later they were walking up the side of a narrow cliff, Bucky leading Darcy with her hand clasped firmly in his.

  
“You woke me up for mountain climbing?” she said grumpily as they followed a path that was barely there.

  
“No, I woke you up for our date. We're nearly there, just a bit further now.”

  
“This better be good,” she said. “I don't even walk up mountains for Jane, and she's my best friend.”

  
“So I'm more important to you than Jane then?” he said with a vague air of triumph.

  
“I didn't say that.”

  
“You implied it.”

  
The only response he got to that was “Hmph.”

  
After several more minutes of hiking up the side of the cliff, they emerged out onto a large ledge that broke into the cliff about halfway up.

  
It was thickly forested, and to Darcy's surprise there was a small cottage set back in the trees, right up against the next level of the cliff. It had a small garden that stretched right out to overlook the bottom section of the cliff.

  
“What is this place?” Darcy asked curiously as Bucky unlocked the front door and let them in.

  
“It's an off the books safe house. No one knows about it, except Steve and Natasha.”

  
“It's pretty,” Darcy said as she followed him inside.

  
“I like it,” Bucky admitted. “It's quiet and peaceful. Take a seat, I'll only be a couple of minutes.” He disappeared into the kitchen.

  
True to his word, it didn't take long for Bucky to finish in the kitchen, and he handed Darcy a large travel mug, and then they went back outside. It was slowly getting lighter along the horizon.

  
He guided her through the tiny garden, and they settled on a loveseat with a glorious view towards the eastern horizon. Bucky wrapped the blanket around them both and with the hot coffee grasped in her hands hoped that she wouldn't get too cold.

  
“This is some view,” Darcy sighed as she rested her head on Bucky's shoulder. “Almost worth the 5am drive and early morning mountain climbing,” she said cheekily.

  
“Almost?” Bucky replied in mock horror. “I think this view is better than almost,” he continued in a softer voice, and she turned her head to see that he was gazing at her with a soft smile.

  
“You know, I think you might be right about that,” she responded softly, as he bent his head and covered her mouth with his, exploring the shape of her lips, hand coming up to cup her face as she responded. He could taste the coffee she'd been drinking as he ran his tongue along her bottom lip. As he pulled away again he heard her breath hitch, and she whimpered slightly.

  
“You don't have to keep stopping you know,” she complained.

  
“I know, but I brought you up here to watch the sunrise with me, so if I don't stop now we might miss it. Not long now.”

  
She snuggled in closer, head dropping back onto his shoulder. “A poor excuse if I ever heard one,” she sniffed, and then she giggled.

  
They sat in silence while the sky got lighter and lighter, the wispy bands of clouds turning shining orange and pink, and then there was a sliver of light on the horizon that swiftly rose, turning the entire sky a blazing orange before the light finally drowned out the colour.

  
“Oh that's so beautiful,” Darcy sighed quietly beside him.

  
“It sure is,” Bucky agreed, then plunged on. “I uh, I thought that watching the sunrise together might be a nice way to start our relationship off,” he said uncertainly, cringing a little inside as he realised how corny it sounded out loud. And it had seemed like such a good idea in his head too.

  
Darcy didn't say a word, and he closed his eyes as his heart sank. Then they flew open again as he felt her sit up straight beside him, and she looked him straight in the eye.

  
“Are you asking me to - how did they say it back in your day? Go steady? Be your best girl? Oh my god, you're a romantic aren't you?” She stared at him wide eyed, and then gave him a brilliant smile. “This is awesome.”

  
“Really? So does that mean I can officially call you my girlfriend now?” he asked hopefully.

  
“Well, there is something you probably need to know first, cos it is possible that your life could be in danger when my brother finds out who my new boyfriend is,” she said seriously.

  
“Who's your brother?” he asked without thinking and then just as she answered him, he remembered. Don't let on that you already know, he told himself.

  
“My brother is Tony,” she said, watching him carefully.

  
“Tony Stark?”

  
“Yep.”

  
“You're Tony's sister?”

  
“I am.”

  
“Okay.”

  
“Okay?”

  
“Well it's not like he hasn't tried to kill me before,” Bucky said thoughtlessly, and then inwardly cursed himself.

  
“Wait, he what?” Darcy stared at him incredulously.

  
“When he found out that I… ahhh, damn it. Howard's your father too, right?” Bucky was suddenly wondering why he hadn't thought about this more over the last week. He should have made this connection earlier.

  
“Yeah he was, but I never knew him, and I don't blame you for what happened,” Darcy said sternly. “In fact, I daresay someone told you that Tony and I had a bit of a falling out a little while back?”

  
“Steve said it was something to do with glitter.” Bucky said with a cautious smile.

  
Darcy snorted. “Nah, that was just the excuse he used for everyone who doesn't know I'm his sister. No, we fought about you moving into the Avengers Facility. I thought it was a good idea, he didn't. Jane and I moved out of the tower, he stopped visiting the base for a while.”

  
“I'm sorry, I had no idea.” Bucky leant forward, hands cradling his head. “I've screwed this all up.”

  
“Oh don't be stupid. I've been on your side ever since Nat dumped all those files online. You really do have a terrible streak of self pity though, don't you?” she sighed.

  
Darcy got up and stood in front of him, the blanket falling to the ground. “You want to be my boyfriend?” she demanded.

  
He looked into her blazing eyes. “There's nothing I want more at the moment,” he said honestly.

  
“Good, then that's settled. You're my boyfriend, I'm your girlfriend, we'll sort everything else out as it comes. Deal?”

  
He nodded, and she knelt down between his legs, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him until he was breathless. And then she kissed him some more.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love sunrises. I love sleep more most days though, so I don't see them very often. When I have WiFi again I'll link in a couple of photos I've taken over the years for your viewing pleasure.   
> Also, sorrynotsorry for the angsty bit there. Figured I needed to balance out the corniness :-D


	24. The Night Before Christmas / The Morning After The Night Before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers enjoy a relaxed and comfortable Christmas Eve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I didn't give you the party then I can at least try for a little bit of aftermath, and maybe a different celebration??
> 
>  
> 
> Also, see the chapter count?? 2nd last chapter for this installment!!!

 

 

**The Night Before Christmas / The Morning After The Night Before**

  
December 24th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Darcy reached an arm over and searched blindly on the table beside her bed for the tv remote. Who had turned it on and why was it so LOUD? She opened one bleary eye and squinted at the remote, trying to find the off button. Just as she found and pressed it, she heard the words ‘Just one more sleep until Christmas kids!’ She flopped her head back down on the pillow and groaned. She would be glad when all these damn parties were over and done with and she could stop drinking for a while.

  
As she rolled over with the fully formed plan of ‘go back to sleep for a week’, there was a knock on her door. She groaned into her pillow again. Maybe if she ignored it, they'd go away. There was another knock. With a muffled sigh she dragged herself out of bed, with a quick check to make sure she had clothes on (Yes!) and opened the door a fraction. It was Bucky with a very large coffee in one hand and a large bottle of water in the other.

  
“Thought you might need this?” he offered, and she let the door open wide enough to let him in.

  
“Ohmygod you're the best,” she gushed as she tried to snatch the coffee out of his hand, but he lifted it up and pushed the water into her hand instead.

  
“Drink some of this first,” he insisted. “You'll thank me for it later.”

  
“Ugh, I take it back, you're the worst,” she complained as she reluctantly took the water and climbed back onto her bed.

  
He chuckled as he shut the door, before coming to sit on the bed beside her as she lifted the bottle to her lips and took a mouthful.

  
“You don't really think that,” he said with a modest grin.

  
She eyed him over the water bottle, as she drank a few more mouthfuls.

  
“No, I don't,” she admitted. “And thanks, I needed this.”

  
“I figured you would.” He fumbled in a pocket. “Here, I brought you these as well.”

  
She peered into his hand and took the pills gratefully.

  
“Alright, you can lay off with the smugness,” she retorted as she swallowed them down. “Can I have the coffee now?” she asked as she put the water bottle on the bedside table.

  
“Hmm, what do I get in return?” he asked hopefully.

  
“A not cranky Darcy,” she scowled half heartedly. “Coffee, please?” she tried again, and smiled in triumph as he handed the cup over.

  
“So why are you so damn cheerful this morning?” she mumbled through her coffee.

  
“Is there a reason I shouldn't be?”

  
“You drank more than I did, where's your hangover?” she grouched.

  
“The serum,” he said matter of factly. “I can't actually get drunk so I don't get the hangover either.”

  
“I hate you,” Darcy moaned.

  
“No you don't,” he assured her.

  
She grunted at him but wriggled around until she was leaning against him.

  
“So how much of last night do you even remember?” Bucky asked curiously, as he put his arm around her shoulders.

  
“No idea, I'm not quite at that stage yet. Gimme another half hour,” she said with eyes closed, mouth wrapped around the edge of the mug.

  
“Hey, you can’t go back to sleep, we've got a date this morning.”

  
“Another one?” she perked up with interest.

  
“With the rest of the team - someone suggested we should all go out together for Elevenses and start a new tradition,” Bucky told her.

  
“Go out for what?” Darcy's eyes opened again and she peered at him suspiciously. “Whose idea was… ohhhh. That was my idea wasn't it? Something about Hobbits right?”

  
“You said that having a Christmas Eve where you didn't need to spend half the day preparing tomorrow's feast was a special thing, so we should all do something special to celebrate.”

  
“Ohhhh, that's right,” Darcy remembered. “Pepper reminded me that a whole bunch of various staff volunteered to do all the cooking for us tomorrow. How did I even forget that?”

  
“You've been really busy, but Helva didn't forget. Neither did Pepper.”

  
“Helva couldn't forget anything,” Darcy said smugly.

  
He nodded as she drained the coffee mug and stood up, wobbling slightly.

  
“You and Helva ordered giant gift baskets for all of them as soon as you found out,” Bucky said with a grin. “Even though the volunteers are all staff and agents without families to go home to, you said it wasn't right for them to give up their Christmas for us, and-”

  
“-and they'll be joining us.” Darcy nodded at the recollection. “They're all part of the Avengers family too really. It wouldn't be right otherwise.”

  
She stretched her arms over head, gave a big yawn, and then planted a sloppy kiss on Bucky's forehead.

  
“Okay, I'm gonna go have a shower, and then I will find some clothes suitable for wearing out,” she announced. “I will meet you in the common room.” She put a hand to her head. “Gods I wish these pills would hurry up and start working.”

  
She disappeared into her tiny ensuite bathroom, and then stuck her head back out.

  
“How long have I got?” she asked.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
When they'd been deciding where to go for their Christmas Eve Elevenses, they'd completely forgotten to take into account the fact that it was December. It was cold, and cold, and cold. And cold meant that all the usual touristy teahouses, cafes, wineries and artisan dairies were all closed.

  
So they gathered in the common room instead. Darcy and Wanda pulled out the stash of baked treats that they'd hidden away after their recent bake-a-thon, and everyone else pitched in to make tea, coffee and hot chocolate, and before long everyone was settled comfortably on lounges, sofas, rugs and chairs, enjoying a relaxed pre-Christmas celebration.

  
Darcy snuggled into Pepper's side, both women thoroughly relaxed and enjoying the quiet day, and watching as Tony, Steve, Bucky and Pietro rotated teams to play a game of pool on the table that Tony had inexplicably brought with him.

  
“I would never have thought that this would be something I'd get to see,” Pepper mused as Tony missed his shot, and was subjected to mild taunting from the opposing team of Bucky and Pietro.

  
“What, Tony getting along with people?” Darcy quipped.

  
“”No, him being in the same room as James Barnes and not actively wanting to kill him,” Pepper replied thoughtfully. “Although, yes to the getting along as well. He's certainly making more of an effort these days.”

  
“Yeah, but how long will it last?” Darcy wondered. “He's not going to celebrate the news of my new relationship with fireworks and a cake.”

  
“Just give him time,” Pepper advised. “I'm thrilled for you both, and Tony will come around. He and Bucky are more alike and have more in common than he's ready to admit. That's half of the conflict there.”

  
“I still think he's gonna blow a gasket when I tell him,” Darcy sighed. “He’ll call it the Second Great Betrayal or something equally dramatic, and then I won't see him for a year.”

  
“Hmm, we'll see,” Pepper replied, and they lapsed into comfortable silence as they finished off their drinks.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Elevenses turned into lunch, which turned into a Lord Of The Rings marathon, until Steve declared bedtime about 11pm.

  
“We may all be grown-ups, but Santa still comes to all the good boys and girls, and all good boys and girls should be in bed,” he insisted, pulling out his Captain America voice, and everyone obediently said their goodnights, and shuffled off to bed.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going out for Christmas Eve morning tea is one of our family traditions. It's usually a cafe in the local shopping center, or the food court. Occasionally it's been somewhere a lot nicer (there was a gorgeous little café in Perth’s Swan Valley one year). Then we do the final little bits of shopping, and go home to do the prep for Christmas Day.


	25. The Best Present is a Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas Day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We reach the end of this saga at last. What I'd originally intended to be a collection of one shots and several loosely connected chapters very quickly turned into a single story. Thanks everyone who has read, commented, left kudos, bookmarked and subscribed, this wouldn't have gone where it did without you. 
> 
> It absolutely lived up to its title too, with me missing days, falling behind, losing inspiration, finding inspiration, and finally achieving an ending! Even if no one told me that I spelt Schroedinger wrong! (I think it's actually Schrödinger?) Update: someone finally mentioned the spelling mistake! Thank you!

 

 

**The Best Present is a Future**

  
December 25th

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Darcy had often maintained that waking up was a new adventure every day, and Christmas Day was usually one of the best.

  
This Christmas, she woke up slowly and gently, drifting up through the layers of sleep, awareness of her surroundings creeping in gradually.

  
And then she remembered what day it was and sat bolt upright. It was Christmas at last!!! She climbed out of bed, found her dressing gown, and flung open her door. Christmas was ON bitches!!

  
There was no sign of anyone else as she skipped down the corridor to the common.area, but as she got closer she could hear voices, and smell the sweet, sweet odours of coffee, bacon and pancakes. She hugged herself in excitement, and bounced through the door.

  
“MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!” she sang out to the people clustered around the kitchen bench.

  
“Merry Christmas Darcy!” They all chorused back.

  
She bounded over and gave them each huge Christmas hugs and kisses, leaving Bucky for last. He'd already poured her a coffee while she did the rounds, and she took it gratefully, adding a bonus kiss with her thanks.

  
“So what's cooking kids?” she asked as she peered at the stove.

  
“Eggs, bacon, pancakes, there's some brioche buns warming in the oven, plus we've got plenty of fruit, yoghurt, cereal or toast if you want it.” Steve flipped another set of pancakes as he listed off the menu.

  
“Eh, pancakes and bacon all the way, who wants cereal and toast on Christmas? I'm starving,” she declared.

  
“We need a few more people out of bed first I think,” Nat added.

  
“Ooh, Helva can take care of that!” Darcy exclaimed. “You want the fire alarms to go off? Or should I just ask her to set their phones off?” she smiled impishly, and Bucky shook his head at her enthusiasm.

  
“Settle down Darce, phones will do,” he said.

  
“No, I will not settle down! Ooh, I could go jump on them?” Darcy suggested, but Bucky was already pulling his phone out and activating his access to Helva.

  
“Helva, you wanna do the honours and wake everyone else up for us please?” he asked with a smile.

  
“How long have you had Helva for?” Steve asked in surprise. “You never told me.”

  
“You never asked. Darcy gave me access as soon as I started helping her organise the party,” Bucky said as he helped himself to a plate of pancakes and bacon. “How else did you think we got everything done in time?”

  
“Makes sense to me,” Sam said, through a mouthful of pancake.

  
It didn't take long for other people to start appearing, and even though some people attempted to make a beeline for the tree and the presents, they were thwarted by the unexpected glowing red barrier that surrounded it.

  
“No presents until everyone has had breakfast,” Wanda informed her brother as he crashed into her force field. There were several muffled chuckles as he grumbled his way over to the food.

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
The present opening was a ceremony in itself. Tony and Wanda argued about who would get to play Santa until it was decided that they could share the privilege. Hats were handed out, and the gifts were handed out one at a time, at Wanda's insistence, to make it last longer.

  
In spite of Tony's argument against this policy (he wanted to dive in head first and just open them all!) everyone enjoyed the leisurely pace and everything went smoothly until Wanda handed Tony a large envelope to open.

  
Tony took the envelope curiously, and opened it. He pulled out a large card, read through the short message silently and then looked at Darcy in anticipation.

  
“Are you sure about this? Cos you know you can't take it back once it's out there?”

  
She nodded determinedly. “It's time Tony. Anyway, if certain people in this room haven't already figured it out, then they're not the spies and gossips that I thought they were.”

  
“Hey, I resemble that remark,” Natasha said placidly, but there was a twinkle in her eye as she moved over to sit next to Darcy.

  
“What, the spy or the gossip?” Darcy smirked at her. “Read it out Tony,” she insisted.

  
Tony cleared his throat, and then read the card out loud.

  
“To my dear friends and family, it is my absolute pleasure today to introduce you all to my little sister.”

  
Many of the people present bit lips, covered their mouths or looked anywhere except at Darcy, while the rest looked around in bafflement.

  
“Sister?” Steve asked in confusion. “I… you have a sister?”

  
“Yes I do,” Tony admitted. “She wasn't very impressed when she first found out though, and didn't want to be associated with me. So I agreed to keep any knowledge of her under wraps until she was ready. And now it seems that she's ready.”

  
“Well,” Steve said, “I can't say I blame her. But how?”

  
“Well it seems that my Dad didn't entirely give up all of his womanizing ways after he married my Mom,” Tony said, but there wasn't even a hint of bitterness in his voice. “And I ended up with a sister that I didn't know about for about 20 years, give or take.”

  
“Half sister actually,” Darcy interjected. “You have no idea how relieved I was to discover that Howard was my father though and **not** Tony.”

  
“Hey!” Tony protested.

  
Steve stared at Darcy for a moment, and then shook his head. “You're Tony's sister? I can't believe I missed that.”

  
“No offense Steve, but you're not exactly the most observant person around in certain regards,” Darcy said earnestly.

  
Steve looked around at his friends, realising that most of them hadn't reacted at all.

  
“How many of you knew?” he asked accusingly.

  
Natasha put her hand up, closely followed by Jane, Thor, Maria, Helen, Sharon, Wanda and Bucky.

  
Steve looked at Pepper quizzically.

  
“Oh, sorry,” she said and put her hand up as well. “I didn't think I needed to.”

  
Steve then rounded on Bucky, “How come you know?”

  
Bucky shrugged. “I had no idea until Darcy told me. I'm no spy.”

  
“Look Steve, don't worry if you didn't know, you weren't meant to know,” Darcy reassured him.

  
“Spies and gossips, huh?” Steve smiled sheepishly.

  
“You're definitely not either of those,” Natasha said reassuringly, “and that's just how we like you. Now, are there any presents left under that tree, or can we go and get dressed for lunch now?”

  
A quick rummage under, around and in the tree failed to unearth any more gifts, and gradually everyone returned to their room to get ready for Christmas Dinner.

  
*•°~☆~°•*

  
When Darcy walked into the cafeteria with Jane and Thor, she was amazed at the transformation. All the tables and chairs had been rearranged to form a horseshoe, and two of the Christmas Trees from the main entrance had been relocated for extra impact. The tables had been decorated to match Darcy's original colour scheme of Christmas red, green and gold, and a buffet table had been set up in front of the usual servery.

  
“Wow,” Jane exclaimed. “They've really done you justice with this. It's fabulous.”

  
“It looks wonderful Darcy, I hope the feast is as impressive,” Thor intoned from next to Jane. “Come, let us find seats.”

  
Other people were arriving behind them, and as they moved forward for a closer inspection of the table Darcy noticed that there were elegant place cards gracing each setting. She wondered who had written them out as she admired the beautiful penmanship.

  
“What beautiful cards,” Wanda observed as she stood next to Darcy. “Who did them?”

  
“I don't know,” Darcy replied. “I didn't actually have anything to do with this.”

  
“Well, it's perfect,” Wanda declared. “And see, they've mixed everyone up together, Avengers, support staff, other departments - all mixed up with each other.”

  
“You know Wanda, I think this might just turn out to be one of the best Christmases I've ever had,” Darcy said as she hugged the other woman. “Are we allowed to help bring everything out to the buffet table do you think?”

  
“No need,” Wanda pointed to where the male Avengers were carrying out loaded trays and dishes, and then everyone was called to table.

  
The food was delicious. The people were all happy. Drinks flowed, as did conversations. The jokes and toys from the Christmas crackers were terrible, as always, but did create a pun war that travelled from one end of the table to the other.

  
To everyone's surprise Pietro insisted on doing all the cleaning up afterwards by himself - and proceeded to have it all done before the protesting got past feeble. After that everyone started to drift off - back to rooms, away to other engagements, or just somewhere more comfortable to digest, watch a movie, or have a sleep.

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

  
Bucky and Sam were half asleep on one of the lounges in the common area when Maria and Pepper found them later on. Other team members were scattered around the room, and after a quick hello and an enigmatic smile, Pepper excused herself to go settle down with Darcy and Tony.

  
“What's up?” Sam said as Maria sat down between the two men.

  
“I have another present for Bucky,” she replied as she handed Bucky an envelope while Pepper watched on surreptitiously from across the room.

  
“What's this?” he asked as he took it.

  
“Something I did after you came to see me last week. Take a look.”

  
Maria's face gave away absolutely nothing as he opened the envelope and pulled out a thin sheaf of papers, joined together with a shiny red paperclip.

  
He glanced at the title in the first page, and then looked up again.

  
“You said you wanted a future,” Maria said. “This is it. Pepper has already given her approval, all you need to do now is read it through, make any changes you'd like me to consider, and then we'll discuss it, my office, 9am on Tuesday. ”

  
She smiled at him. “Welcome to the Avengers.”

  
He was too busy staring at the contract in his hands to acknowledge Maria as she left, dragging a protesting Sam with her, and nodding a hello to Steve as they passed him in the doorway.

  
Sam managed to grab Steve's attention as he was hauled past. “Look out for Bucky man, I think Maria just broke him.”

  
Steve looked over at Bucky who was still staring at the paper, and then back at the empty doorway. He made his way to the lounge.

  
“Ah, Sam said something-”

  
He broke off as Bucky handed him the contract. “Merry Christmas Steve. I'm gonna be an Avenger.”

 

  
*•°~☆~°•*

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes there will be more, but I don't know when. I'm hoping to use any spare time I have in January to finish off some of the half done WIP’s I have in my fic folder, but if the muse takes me then I will probably follow :-)

**Author's Note:**

> Want to join me? I even have a list of prompts if we need them...  
> Also, tags may change, rating may change, pairings etc. etc. etc. I may even rip off some of my old fics for inspiration if the whim so takes me...
> 
> My Tumblr, if you're interested, is  
> [ibelieveinturtles](http://ibelieveinturtles.tumblr.com/)


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